The Wilds - Lucky 13

I've been doing a lot of writing elsewhere, so this place has gone quiet. Since I'm writing turns for my PbP Labyrinth Lord game anyhow, I thought I'd start sharing them here. Here's how the game is being run:

I write two turns a week, usually Mondays and Thursdays. Turns go out to a mailing list that includes all the players and their responses generally go back to the same list. Secret information goes out separately to individual players, and answers come straight back to me. The turns I write (hopefully) reflect the actions/desires of the PCs. In combat situations we try to run three rounds per turn cycle. The rest of the time, I try to cover at least one scene per turn.

In addition to the start / end framing you see below, the turn includes a bunch of boilerplate about the characters and their logistics -- marching order, watches at night, that sort of thing. That keeps everyone on the same page, which can be a challenge in PbP games.

Here's the turn!


Start Date: Start Date: June 15, Year of the Badger, late morning
Start Status: Time to go?
Start Location: In the Cold Caves

The Turn

[We'll dispense with rounds, since it seems a general retreat is in order, and there are no enemies in sight — yet]

With the inner (not outer) door secure for the moment, Durego declares "Time to get out of here people! Gorvil, cut off that bear's head! Everyone start moving out! Whatever's on the other side of this door is pretty mad."

Indeed, you can all hear the steady pounding of something big and angry hammering on the door, which seems none the worse for wear, at least not yet.

"Wait a minute!" says Ingvild. "A bear hide is worth good money, and bear is good eating. We should take it with us!"

Locky gives the man a worried look, but his stomach rumbles too. "It must weigh three hundred pounds, but... good eating you say? I think the idea is worth exploring!"

"We can split a beam out of this table and sling it beneath. Four of us can carry it, and camp is only three miles from here. What do you think?"

Durego shakes his head. "You're deranged aren't you? There's no way we have time to do that."

"Wait a minute!" exclaims Grit. "How much is a pelt worth?"

"Two hundred, maybe two-fifty gold pieces," answers Ingvild, "And my brother is a fair hand at skinning."

Grit thinks it over and says, "Two hundred gold is a nice chunk of change. We have plenty of warm bodies, let's do it!." Without waiting for Durego's approval, he pulls out his axe and hacks at the table nearest the door, splitting a length of oaken timber out of the top. "Get started, I'll pile the rest of this stuff in front of the door."

Nissa starts to object, but the thought of a big pile of gold stops her. Instead she moves to help Grit pile chairs and broken table pieces against the door.

Urúvion, Locky, and Saurabh, seeing the way the winds are blowing, finish looting the bodies in the inner (not outer) room, cutting off heads as they go.

It takes about 10 minutes to tie the bear carcass off and get bearer's organized. Ingvild and Dagmarten take one end of the beam, Raúguey and Nissa the other, and everyone moves out, finally catching up with Rawon outside the cave. As you clear the inner (not outer) room, Jonquil slams the door and starts piling bodies in front of it, while Ohwatoo recites an incantation. Blue light flickers once again, and the outer (not inner) door shudders in its frame, as magical energies seal it in place.

There's nothing left to do but get away, and get away you do. Rawon takes point, leading you on a winding trail that crisscrosses itself several times, and Urúvion follows behind, obscuring and misdirecting as best he can. Carrying the bear slows you down, but it's not terribly far. By early afternoon you're back at camp, bear, kobold heads, and all.

As Ingvild and Dagmarten set to work butchering the bear, and Jonquil and Gorvil stand watch, the rest of you gather around the tiny fire. "OK," says Nissa, "what'd we get?"

One by one the searchers dump their finds on a blanket spread next to the fire. Well, except for the kobold heads, no one is quite sure what to do with those.

The loot

95 GP
195 SP

Miscellaneous

2 wooden vials full of a stinky blue paste
1 a rusty metal case sealed with an illegible seal of blue wax
3 gems, 2 small and 1 large, in a velvet bag
1 gold ring - looks like an old human-style wedding band
2 silver cups - tarnished
3 silver platters - also tarnished
3 light crossbows in good shape, 30 quarrels (human made)
4 short swords in good shape (human made)
1 banner of the Acorn Kobolds
17 kobold heads - stinky and bloody
1 bear carcass - fuzzy and bloody


End Date: Start Date: June 15, Year of the Badger, early afternoon
End Status: Out!
End Location: In camp at the old homestead, a few miles from the Cold Caves

Oh, here's the list of characters:


Durego Van - 2nd Cleric (Hasuden)
Ohwatoo - 2nd Magic-User (Hasuden)
Raúguey Downs - 2nd Fighter (Hasuden)
Lockwood "Locky" Leatherfoot - 2nd Halfling
Grit Seventoes - 2nd Dwarf
Rawon - 2nd Wood Elf
Nissa Revane - 2nd High Elf
Urúvion - 2nd Wood Elf
Maro Revane - 2nd High Elf

Hirelings

Gorvil - 0th hireling - Durego Van
Jonquil - 0th hireling - Ohwatoo
Saurabh - 0th hireling - Raúguey

The Brothers

Ingvild - 2nd Thief (Toresden) - NPC
Dagmarten - 2nd Cleric (Toresden) - NPC

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