A Gentleman's Sport

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Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: A Gentleman's Sport
GM: Eamon
Season: Autumn 826 WK
Night: Someday
Level: Level

Party
Mission
Hired to escort 30 expendable nobles through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition.
Original Scribe Notes
Media:Snsp0102.zip

Scribe Notes

Summary

Hired to escort 30 expendable nobles through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition. Met an interesting liche necromancer with a lot of flesh-shaped golems and Malbar, and a fortified city of humans run by vampires and protected by sentient wraiths, all of which happened to be friendly, and managed to avoid two armies that weren’t.

Lost 4 nobles to the Dark Circle, and 5 by their own choice to the city they wanted to become important vampire lords.

The Dark Circle

Divinating the Dark Circle causes death. There are skeletal “death bunnies” that eat dead grass, including hay. Ghost rain that goes through cover and drains about 1 fatigue an hour. Lightning that kills the body, but leaves the unhappy spectral spirit in its place. It could be growing or morphing to take in more ground.

There’s a Dark Tower golem construction plant run by the lytch master Lambert, who takes tours. The walled town of Kithdwalin is a haven for live people run by the lytch lord Amgore and his vampire court. Both places of interest seem civilised and hospitable.

Day 1 (1 Thaw)

Phaeton pacted to Dienseth (Light), Viola pacted to Reneve (Dark), can’t do churches, Grendal pacted to a water deity, Hilbourne’s dog familiar, Bedevere, is some kind of conduit for Winter personified. When they say you’ll rub shoulders with all kinds of scum in the guild, they’re not fucking around. Viola says she’ll cast Flash of Light every second round if we’re in combat with six or more live entities. What’s the chance, where we’re going? She’s wearing illusory clothes. Damn. Drum can become a dwarf at will. Hired by Captain Sherwood to escort thirty young nobles (not first sons) and a few servants through the Dark Circle on a hunting expedition, adventure, and safari, one kill expected per person. Sigh. They can hunt and fence, don’t do magic. Little armour, and no silvered or magical weapons. We have to conceal our casting while being guides and helpers, keeping them alive and letting them play. Sigh. Pay = 7000sp each, plus loot. Also asked to keep an eye out for Captain Harwood and 19 men who got lost in there recently. No bonus for bringing any out. We have to bring our own horses, carts and food provided, expense account for supplies. Have a couple of days to prepare, then portal to Haven where the nobs are waiting. Sherwood will not accompany us, but will deliver us from Haven to the Dark Circle in his ship, the Jolly Lucky. He leaves. We get to kill pirates, too. Yay. Hilbourne gets party leader, being noble, Drum gets Mil Sci, with me as second. Get 2 Waters of Healing, and 2 10-point healing potions, and Tharkum gives us all a Rank 20 Greater. Yay! Bedevere does some kind of paralysis on me to prove a point. Can’t work out how. Supposedly he can also give us luck. Phaeton says he can’t kill anything. Not really surprised. I borrow Drum’s battleaxe; returns when thrown, hits easier. Drum says his soul is absent, in a safe place, and that he’s part shadow creature. Wonder if he’ll fit in, going to the Dark Circle and all. Leave, go home. Show Al Viola, decide to eat out. Drum pays for nice dinner. Tell Hilbourne to be leader for the lordlings.

Day 2

Shop, get horses, except Drum. Go through Water College to portal to Haven. Horses get a bit twitchy. Nice view. Get led to a longboat. I hate boats. Rowed out to floating castle. Last quarter someone dragged it up from the bottom. Sigh. Make a note of all the floaty things: five cargo boats. Party try to loosen me up with vodka fruit drinks. See pretty fish and Aqualina under the water. Hilbourne finds Sherwood. She gathers us, girls get tarted up, he gathers the nobs. Phaeton gives me a drink every time I mention hating boats. Why didn’t anyone else think of this? Go to a party: courtesans, alcohol. Nice. Hilbourne does a pep talk. Rah. We stagger out. No apparent storms coming. Others find casinoes, Viola checks out the clientele. We find our rooms. Attach inflated waterskin to pack.

Party for two days. Phaeton does modelling and painting.

Day 4

Make our way to the ship at the crack of noon. Looks fast, crew look hard. Think women are unlucky. Will be one day on board. Sigh. Sherwood gives us some maps. Ruins, savannah, tower in middle of dark forest. Chosen path goes past it. Sigh. Three of the nobs are disguised women. Bunter the bagman is obviously a combat veteran. Four other servants.

Day 5

We get there alive. Yay! Me, Drum and Phaeton go in first boat with keen lordlings. Viola flies over and lands like a frog. Ha! Drum does some scouting (Ranger Rk 5). Finds tracks of a big bird and a skele dog. Light is dim. So are clients. Should we test them in weapons? Magic them to caution? See rapiers, non-silver, non-magic, and two boar spears. Sigh. Project. Check out horses. Good quality hunt-trained palfreys. Can see the anti-undead barriers clearly by glittery sparks: Phaeton’s jade amulet is 50’. Home base is where the cart is. Four major factions in lordlings, some individuals. Martial group leader = Squire Manton. About 16 years old. Finally get them moving. Lord Frederick chats up Viola, she’s looking for potential husbands, though not a good choice here. Me and Drum see no game, only some insects. Not good. Can we magic some up? Maybe summon something. Lunch takes 2½ hours, counting pack up. Lots of thorny bushes in shadowy parts. Definite barrier effect. Not magical, just warped. See the dark grove ahead. Declare it tomorrow morning’s hunt. Camp on rocky outcrop with 5 15-foot drops around, water nearby. Drum sees something move. Sends me out. See nothing. Oh fuck. It must be insubstantial. Drum stealths out for a look. Beaters couldn’t do better. Something snuffly, glimpses of white. Skele bunnies, eating dead grass. Lots of them. D.A = death bunnies. Tie down horses. Lordlings haven’t noticed anything yet. No apparent fear effect. Drum, Tharkum and Hilbourne start casting. I prep smashy things (horseshoes, faggots, spikes, hammers etc). Viola trying to charm an audience of nobs, but they distracted by casting. Getting surrounded. We get inspired (spell). Something catches the bunnies’ attention. Life? Something else? A lordling bothers Hilbourne but she casts anyway. Forbidding. Gather lordling back to others. Viola flies up and sees a sea of bunnies. I try to convince lordlings not to bother those casting. Wall of Starlight goes up, another Forbidding. Drum decides to engage. Lots of them, close together. Three smashed. Lordlings stroppy, anti-magic. Distract the troublemakers by getting them onto the bunnies that have breached the barriers. Appears it’s the hay that’s attracting them. Decide to sacrifice a bit with a death bunny in it out of the ring. Sic the rest of the nobs on the bunnies while Drum puts the hay in his portable hole. Pulls out a ballista and a barrel of giant ale to make room. Lordlings get stuck in, some bunny bites before they’re all gone, then burn most the wood in a bonfire and do some duelling. Sigh. Watch for those wandering out into the dark. Frederick seems more interested in dancing with the boys than Viola.

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