[After three weeks of downtime, the Troop gets a job offer and travel to Stralbruck. Porkins has a confession to Biggz.]
[This game uses Adventures in the Green, a RPG based on the original rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game. These rules are under development with Draft C available here. Game sessions happen an average of once a month. This session happened April 24, 2021.]
Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):
Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Family Priest (5th-level Cleric)
Porkins – male human Conjuror (5th-level Magic-User)
Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)
Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)
Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (3rd-level Thief)
Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (2nd-level Thief/1st-level Cleric)
Hirelings:
Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy
Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]
Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]
Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]
Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]
Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]
Downtime between November 20 to December 11, 523rd year of the Empire
During this downtime, the adventurers pursued individual projects, summarized as follows:
- Porkins learned Rope Trick and added it to his spellbook. He also underwent his second transformation into a wererat during the full moon on November 24 and realized he had lycanthrope.
- Tor went to Grossestadt to pick up the magical plate armor he commissioned. He paid the remainder of the agreed cost [half up front, half on completion]. He then returned to Smolberg.
- Biggz also went to Grossestadt to file the necessary paperwork for the adventuring group to make them a Chartered Adventuring Company. This provides some protections for their activities and title to their loot [assuming there is no prior claim] in exchange for paying a yearly renewal fee to the Empire. Without these protections adventurers can be charged for murder for killing the wrong kind of people in a dungeon or have their hard-earned loot confiscated by a local noble on whose fief a dungeon might be located. Biggz also posted new notices that they were looking to hire another cleric and placed an order with Hugh for another enchanted sling [for Kunigunde].
- Tiny and Kunigunde lived like rockstars in Smolberg, partying until late in the night, sleeping in, and generally living large.
- Mannin lived quietly, doing his best to not draw a great deal of attention to himself, especially from law enforcement.
- [The entire group paid their upkeep for November (I forgot to ask for it previously) and for December.]
Sunday, December 11, 523rd year of the Empire
Biggz, sitting in the Little Ox tavern and working on some paperwork, was approached by a human in fancy clothing. After verifying that Biggz was Biggz, he introduced himself as Ulf Thorhallson. He explained he was a representative of the village council of Stralbruck. Not recognizing the name of the village, Biggz asked where Stralbruck was and Ulf explained it was part of County Mandersheid-Scleiden-Virreburg, a small principality to the north. The village had recently secured the right to build a mill on a nearby stream and sent workers to clear the site before the winter snows came. Shortly after the work started, workers started disappearing, six so far. The village council wants that stopped and decided to hire the group that cleared the goblins from the Smolberg Watchtower. [This is something the PCs are currently known for doing.]
Biggz was interested in the job and asked what it paid. Ulf explained the job paid 1000 gc for making the site of the mill safe from whatever was taking the villagers. If Biggz was willing to sign a contract for the job, Ulf was also authorized to pay out an emerald as a deposit over and above the coins. Biggz asked about the status of any loot taken from whatever was making the villagers disappear. Ulf agreed that anything secured in the process of stopping the disappearances would belong to the adventurers. Finding the deal fair but curious about the emerald being offered, Biggz asked to see it. Ulf looked around to verify they were not being watched and then pulled a small velvet bag from his belt pouch. From it he produced a cut emerald about the size of an acorn and displayed it to Biggz. Biggz was impressed and asked when they needed to be in Stralbruck. Allowing for travel, Ulf agreed that the adventurers needed to be in Stralbruck to start work no later than the 29th of December. Biggz agreed to the terms of the contract. The two of them then completed and signed two copies of the contract, Ulf taking one copy and Biggz the other. Ulf handed the emerald over to Biggz and departed.
With the contract and emerald in hand, Biggz rounded up the members of Biggz’z Troop and explained the job. The group discussed what supplies they needed to take with them for the trip. They decided to purchase 10 new shields for the fighters to use [I use Shields Will Be Shattered, so the fighters burn through a lot of shields]. Not certain what accommodations there would be, Porkins bought a tent and the company bought a second one. They thought it would be wise to hire some additional bodyguards for Larn and Isidoros and they should pay Larn, Isidoros, Deniska, and Ivan for a full month as they would be out of town for at least that long.
Biggz went over to the Guild of Condotierre, Linkboys, Roustabouts, and Stevedores to make the arrangements. She learned that Hardkira and Bernagi were currently available [the group worked with them in the past] and hired them as the additional bodyguards. She also made use of the Guild's money-changing services to use the emerald for payment and received coin as change, which were used to pay for the other supplies the group wanted.
Porkins went over to Isen’s Book and Paper and purchased a copy of Créatures de la Lune from Isen. Isen raised an eyebrow at the book purchase and Porkins claimed it was for a job the adventurers had been hired for. The book was in French and written in three parts. Part 1 was a general history of lycanthropes, Part 2 discussed the different types of were-creatures and their habitats, and Part 3 discussed defenses against them and their curse. [Reading through it during the trip to Stalbruck, Porkins would learn that the author, Grégoire de Fronsac, had the most experience with werewolves and very much advocated the eradication of all lycanthropes.]
Finally, Biggz tracked down Aaron Kalteswasser, the river merchant, and asked if he and his boat were available for hire to take the group to Wittlingen (the nearest river town to Stralbruck). Aaron said he would be ready in the next morning for a reasonable fee. Biggz paid the fee and told Aaron to expect 12 passengers in the morning.
Moonday, December 12, 523rd year of the Empire
In the morning all of Biggz’z Troop and their hirelings arrived at the town docks and boarded Aaron’s river boat. The trip would take 10 days, first heading down the Jeetzel River to the Wasser River and then up the Wasser. Unsurprisingly, the boat of heavily armed adventurers was not bothered during the trip.
Cromsday, December 22, 523rd year of the Empire
The river boat full of adventurers arrived at Wittlingen and docked mid-morning. Biggz thanked Aaron and the group started walking. Stralbruck was the better part of three days to the east. Luckily, there were inns along the way as the route from Wittlingen to Stralbruck was reasonably well traveled.
Freysday, December 23, 523rd year of the Empire
Realizing that this would be the first night of the full moon, Porkins was forced to confide in Biggz that he had lycanthrope and would likely change into a wererat when the moon rose. Biggz was shocked that Porkins was only now mentioning this. They discussed their limited options at this point and Biggz agrees to tie Porkins up and lock him in one of the rooms at the inn – it was the best they could work out as the sun was already setting.
Yggsday, December 24, 523rd year of the Empire
Dawn
Porkins woke up, partially dressed, in a small outbuilding near the inn. He snuck back to the inn and was able to re-enter his room through the window without anyone noticing. The room was a mess from the thrashing around he apparently did to get free and his rope was fairly shredded. He finished cleaning just as Biggz arrived and unlocked the door. They were both concerned that he would change twice more this lunar cycle.
Mid-afternoon
The group of adventurers arrived at Stralbruck. Stralbruck was a large village with a wall around it and a noticeable church. At the gate Biggz explained who they were and showed the contract. The gate guards directed the group to The Brass Dog, the best [only] inn, and explained where the local lord lived in town.
While most of the group spent the remaining afternoon securing rooms at The Brass Dog [rooms had been set aside by the local lord for their use], Biggz and Porkins went on separate missions. Porkins went to the local church to determine if anyone had access to Remove Curse “in case whatever was making the villagers disappear could invoke curses.” The priest in charge told Porkins the village was small and did not have anyone capable of removing curses, but it would only take a week or so to get someone here. Porkins thanked the priest for the information and made a small donation to the church.
Meanwhile, Biggz reported in with the local lord of Stralbruck, Helmar Schleiden. Helmar was somewhat nervous when discussing the job. He eventually admitted that the number of missing villagers was now 14. He gave directions to the location of the ruins where the land was being cleared for the mill. This made Biggz raise their eyebrows as Ulf had not mentioned any ruins. Biggz decided to not ask about the ruins – it would be easier to claim any loot in them later than ask for permission now. Biggz left the lord’s home to update the other adventurers.
Shortly Before Sunset
While finishing an early dinner, Biggz and the rest were accosted by a human in wealthy merchant’s clothing. He introduced himself as Grimbold von Virreburg, a prominent member of the village. He sought verification that the adventurers had accepted the contract and would have things “settled in a timely fashion.” Biggz asked why Grimbold had not asked the lord and Grimbold stated he “didn’t want to bother his lordship with merchant fears.” Grimbold told Biggz he was concerned that the disappearances would stop commerce in the area as the Yule celebrations were already subdued. He reiterated that he was glad the adventurers who cleared the Smolberg Watchtower were on the job and said his farewells.
Oleg the bartender, who was delivering a round of drinks as Grimbold was leaving, offered the opinion that he heard a rumor that it was ghosts taking away people.
End of Part 1
Behind the Green
[So, there is a huge time gap between session notes. That’s because I stopped writing up my session notes for this campaign back in 2019. I did so for a couple of reasons, mostly to do with feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the personal projects I was handling at the time. Since then I brought the major writing project I was working on to a stopping point. It was not complete, but it was a project that consumed a lot of my personal time used someone else’s IP. I started to feel burnout on it and realized if I finished, I couldn’t do anything with it but give it away free. Recognition is great, but it doesn’t pay bills and I was feeling very financially precarious at the time. I set a date to get the files into good enough shape that I felt they could be made public without terminal embarrassment and then posted a link to them on my primary blog, Bugbears for Breakfast (look for the sidebar links to The Game).]
[Once that was wrapped up and handed over, I concentrated on writing my clone of OD&D – Adventures in the Green, the rules I’m using to run this campaign. I’m nearly done with Draft C of the rules and have posted PDFs of Book I and Book II. Book III was targeting to complete Draft C by the end of June, but it now looks like a July thing as it has a lot of Referee advice and needs some serious thinking for the re-write.]
[In the meantime, I feel I have more personal bandwidth right now and so I’m resuming typing up the session notes for the playtest campaign. Rather than go back over a year ago and try and catch up, I’m starting with the current action. I will gradually go back and fill in the gap, but don’t expect it soon. I don’t want to burn out on any of this, so I’m taking it one piece at a time.]
[I also recently learned that I’d been spelling Biggz’ name wrong (I was using only one “g”). This happened when the character was asked the name of the adventuring party while filing the paperwork to become a Chartered Adventuring Company. I’ve corrected that error going forward. Sorry, Biggz.]
Biggz’z Troop, CAC
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