[April 24 – Job Enquiries]
[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened August 7, 2023.]
[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, 30 years after the events of Tim’s Outlanders in what was known as the Crendia Campaign. The Crendia Campaign happened over 10+ years of real time, ending in 2006, four years before I started this blog.]
Player Characters
Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)
Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally
Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom
Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon
Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)
Via Roll20
Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer
Spring
April 24, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)
Having looked over the jobs listed on the Jobs Board in the Refugee Market outside the walled town of Mouzaki, the beginning adventurers decided that three of the jobs seemed to be in the same direction: south-ish from Mouzaki. The closest job was hunting a wild animal attacking a logging camp about a half-day away in the small Tsepi Forest. In that direction but farther was a job of delivering some mail to the village of Nomi, 50 miles away on the other side of the Onomastike Hills. The third job was past that at the border with The Shires, scouting for a reported monster in the Mikro Dasos.
Sorvia and Islo volunteered to go talk to Sheriff Raptis and get the details on the scouting job, like what it paid and how long they had to complete it and get paid. Tharduk and Anomin volunteered to go speak with Postmaster Stefania Spyros to get the same information on the mail delivery run to Nomi. [The job at the logging camp instructed those interested to speak with Chief Woodcutter Nik Papadimitriou at the camp, something the group could do on the way to the other two jobs.]
Tharduk and Anomin waited a bit in line to get into Mouzaki, until Tharduk showed his Certified Merchant badge and then they were waved in. The mail depot used to be one of the smallest in the County and was now the only remaining office, so it was crowded and full of people. Anomin noticed a side service window labeled “Bounties” that had no line and suggested she and Tharduk try there.
The duo made their way over to the Bounties window and rang the bell. The clerk there was caught slightly by surprise while working on something else. He had Anomin and Tharduk sign in and then escorted them back behind his desk and down a busy passage to the Postmaster’s office.
Postmaster Stephania Spyros was a human woman. Her office was full but neat, with various packages and letters arranged on side tables. Her own desk had neat stacks of reports. She was polite and explained that she needed someone to carry two months of accumulated mail from Mouzaki to Nomi, a small village on the other side of the Onomastike Hills. The delivery wasn’t urgent but was very much ready to go. The job paid one gold up front for travel expenses and nine more gold upon return with a signed receipt and whatever mail Nomi needed delivered to Mouzaki. Anomin and Tharduk would have a month or so to deliver the mail and return. Anomin and Tharduk both agree this was reasonable and their team could handle the job. Postmaster Spyros was visible pleased that there would be more than just the two of them on the job and pulled out a contract. She asked that the entire team be listed so if anything untoward happened and Anomin and Tharduk didn’t make it back but other members of the team did, they could still get paid. Anomin and Tharduk listed the entire team and then signed the contract.
At this point the Postmaster mentioned that if the team did not return in 5 weeks, a bounty would be put out on all of them for defrauding the post. She was only slightly apologetic about this, stating that it was necessary to make sure the job got done. She then pointed to a crate that was a two-foot cube and clearly marked Property of the County Modon Post Office and told Anomin and Tharduk that was the mail they needed delivered. Anomin attempted to also pick up a very official looking, wax-sealed envelope, but the Postmaster noticed and politely explained that was not part of the mail Anomin and Tharduk would be delivering. Anomin set the fancy letter back down and the duo left.
At the same time, Islo and Sorvia were on their way to see the Sheriff. The Sheriff’s office was also inside Mouzaki and the two rangers had to wait in line to enter the walled town. Not being merchants of any sort, it took them an hour to get inside the town.
The Sheriff’s Office wasn’t difficult to find but also had a line out the door. This line moved quickly and before too long they were at the front desk facing Sergeant Greenpike. When asked what complaint the two wanted to make, the sergeant was pleased to find out that they were actually there to ask Sheriff Raptis about the scouting job. Sergeant Greenpike told the duo that the sheriff was stuck at the Count’s court at the moment and they should come back in an hour after the sheriff returned and had time to cool off. When asked for details on the job, all the sergeant could share was there were reports of people disappearing, bloody stains, and what not but the Sheriff did not have enough manpower to send anyone south to go look. Sergeant Greenpike gave the duo directions to a nearby tavern to wait at, recommending they tell the bartender she had sent them.
The tavern down a side street and around a corner and named The Courageous Plate. Once inside, Islo and Sorvia realized that most of the patrons were either town guard or sheriff deputies. The bartender rather gruffly asked what they wanted here, clearly not asking for their drink order. Sorvia stated that Sergeant Greenpike had sent them. The bartender instantly became much friendlier, as did the other patrons. Islo and Sorvia ordered some ale each and cooled their heels for an hour.
Upon returning to the sheriff’s office an hour later, Sergeant Greenpike waved them over and had a lesser deputy show them to the Sheriff’s actual office. The deputy knocked on the door and then opened it slightly to announce that some rangers were there about the scouting job. Islo and Sorvia heard some glass clinking and a drawer being shut before the sheriff ordered them to be shown in.
The Sheriff was still wearing his courtly uniform and remained seated behind his desk. The sheriff agreed that Islo and Sorvia looked the part and explained the job. There were reports of some sort of monster in the Mikro Dasos, the forest near the border with The Shires. With the Grand Duchy of Mercia getting froggy on the southwest border, the Count did not want the Tolk to get "worried" and send their own people to investigate and claim the forest. Sheriff Raptis needed someone to go down there, scout around for a week, and then return and report. He was willing to pay 10 gold for a detailed report of the situation. There was a bonus of 30 gold if the report came with a detailed map of the forest. There would be an additional bonus for any monster heads or trophies indicating dead monsters. The value would vary based on threat levels. Islo and Sorvia asked for copies of the reports so they knew what to look for and the sheriff had copies made for them.
Late Morning
All six adventurers met together in a small tavern outside Mouzaki in the refugee camp and discussed the information they had about the jobs. The jobs seemed reasonable and could be done as a series [first the logging camp, then the mail delivery, then the scouting]. Inserrant had concerns about not being able to abandon any of the jobs if they became too dangerous, but no one else shared her concerns. They all agreed to do all three jobs and share the wealth generated.
Afternoon
The adventures left the refugee camp surrounding Mouzaki just after Noon and followed a loose trail south, paralleling the Ladon River. The area immediately around Mouzaki was plowed and seeded crop land. Past that they walked several hours through grassy plains until they reached the Tsepi Forest as the sun approached the horizon. Smoke from camp fires marked where the logging camp was located.
The logging operation was on the west side of the Ladon River at the old edge of the forest. When they spotted the camp, they were slightly surprised to see a barrier of tree limbs and brambles surrounded the camp with a roughly hewn gate on the northeast side [towards the river bank] providing the only way in. As the group approached they could see loggers walking up to the camp from the south and entering.
When close enough to talk, a couple loggers with axes challenged the adventurers as to their business. Islo [I think] stated they were there about the wild animal job and held up the job poster. The loggers seemed pleased someone was here for the job and directed the adventurers to the camp office, one of the two permanent structures in the camp.
Once inside the barrier, the adventurers could see that the two permanent structures were the camp office and the canteen, where the loggers took their meals. Behind those were a large number of 4 person tents, which appeared to be where the loggers slept.
The group approached the camp office where several men were talking and asked for Nik Papadimitriou. A tall skinny man said he was Nik Papadimitriou and wanted to know what they wanted. The adventurers explained they were responding to the job posted in Mouzaki about stopping the animal attacks. Nik brightened up at this. He sent the people he had been speaking to on their way and invited the adventurers into his office.
Nik explained that some animal was attacking his workers and he needed someone to kill it to make it stop. The job paid 5 gp in coin and another 5 gp in company script for stopping the attacks. The adventurers stated that the pay offered was agreeable and Nik start explaining the situation in more detail.
About eight days ago, on April 16, one of the scouts marking trees in a new logging zone disappeared. One of their boots was found two days later, with the foot still in it. On April 19th, the first group of loggers started working the zone. They spread out as is normal and started cutting down trees. After a bit, one of them screamed loud enough to be heard by several other loggers. They all rushed to the sound of the scream. They found only blood stains and the logger’s axe. This started making people nervous and the loggers don’t spread out as far any more. Work has slowed as a result and Nik asked the company to do something about the animal. Two days ago, at night, one of the loggers was killed on the edge of the camp itself, so everyone spent yesterday building the barrier and the gate around the camp and got no logging done at all. Nik used a map on the wall showing the logging zones and their statuses to show where each attack happened. Sorvia attempted to make a quick copy of the map, but it wasn’t very good [she rolled terrible].
Sorvia and Islo exited the camp to inspect the site where the last attack happened. Unfortunately, many people had walked through there and the branches and bramble bushes that made up the camp’s barrier wall had been drug through as well, obliterating any signs of the attack. Sorvia and Islo then had to hustle to get back inside the camp before the gate was closed for the night. Luckily, Tharduk stood in the way of the gate to make certain Sorvia and Insl were let back in.
The adventurers were given a small clear area to set up their own campsite.
End of session
Commentary
[This campaign started with a desire on my part to return to an old campaign world. I had a rough idea where I wanted to start and the situation I wanted the characters to start in, but not much past that. I updated my character creation guidelines and the relevant documents the players would need to make their characters (languages, dwarven clan names, available martial arts, a little bit about the gods, and a map of the starting area). Doing this was like coming home. I enjoyed returning to this campaign and updating it as needed for running the game.]
[Starting with some guidelines for the players to create characters is how I started most of my home-brew campaigns. I create a starting situation and see what interests the players and build off in that direction, staying just far enough ahead that they don’t catch up. This campaign starts with the PCs in a refugee camp after the sudden sinking of the land and water rushing in to flood everything. They’ve just finished helping with the spring planting organized by the Count so people will have food, but feel they can do better than farming. I provided a list of jobs posted to the local jobs board and let the players pick what they wanted to do. That’s where this session starts. We’ll see where things go from here.]
[I feel I should also point out that the economy is based on copper pieces, not gold like most RPGs so the payouts might seem small but are significant for the jobs.]
Sudden Sea Adventures
Last session: None
Next session: Session 2
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