2010: The Year of Community

Well, it's been quite a year. When I re-started this blog just about a month before the last New Years, Risus Monkey existed as one of many forgotten Risus fan sites. I had very modest ambitions of posting some Mythic GME/Risus play reports as well as some occasional thoughts on my favorite system. More than a year later, I find that the site has morphed into a modestly successful general purpose gaming blog loosely associated with the Old School Renaissance. According to Cyclopeatron's insidiously addictive statistics, I now find myself in the Top 40 of OSR blogs (ranked by total followers) and in the Top 10 of "the Hottest OSR Blogs" (by followers gained).

Wow, how did that happen?

First of all, I got sucked into this wonderful little community of bloggers. I could go on and on about the amazing blogs and bloggers and blog readers that I came to know over the course of the year.  Some of them, like Jeff's Game Blog, I had already been reading sporadically. Others, like Grognardia and Playing D&D With Porn Stars and Lamentations of the Flame Princess had achieved reputations that were impossible to ignore. And there were amazing blogs with fantastic worldbuilding, indispensable gaming resources, maps (don't get be started on maps!), fun little philosophical discussions, and (of course) general geekery.

In hindsight, it seems obvious how it works. You write a post that somebody reads. They post some nice feedback that makes you smile. You follow the trail back to their blog, discover some amazing content and follow or drop a comment of your own. It's how a community is built that reaches way beyond the people I could have possibly met at local game days and conventions. It's how EN World worked for some of my friends but never seemed to work for me. Forums can be daunting, overwhelming, and... untidy. With blogs, you have all this work by a particualr author grouped on a a single site with a consistent look and feel. If I want to go back and find a shit ton of sword & sorcery goodness, I need only hop over to Beyond the Black Gate. For the most amazing Pulp Fantasy world that I've ever seen, I jump over to From The Sorcerer's Skull.

There have been a lot of very supporting people of the past year. Essentially, anybdy that has given me feedback, linked to the site, or inspired me to try harder is worthy of mention. But that's a heck of a lot of people. I do want to call out:

• Matt Jackson (snikle at lapsus culmni) for being an early and ardent supporter, 
• Trey at FtSS for being a brilliantly creative gentleman who does work that I would have liked to have done if I had more time and bit more talent, 
• Christian at Destination Unknown for being the community's resident social butterfly, 
• Dyson Logos for kicking off the geomorph craze, 
• Professor Pope and Cthulhu's Librarian for being great friends that I miss terribly, 
• my own incredible and indispensable gaming group whose members do not exist publicly in this corner of the blogosphere.

Thanks once again to all my followers, commenters, and readers for supporting the site. Let's hope that 2011 continues to build this amazing community.

The Hunt Is On (Forgotten Songs #21, #22, #23)

For reasons that escape me now, this next diary entry of Katja details the events of three game sessions. These were some very exciting sessions full of major set-backs and small but satisfying victories. 

July 25th, 2000 (New Moon)
It is with heavy heart that I write this. Another member of my new family has been taken from me. Emily, our dragonkin companion, has been stolen from us. She's been gone for almost 24 hours and we have but one unpromising lead as to where she might be found.

It began on the evening of July 21st in Collowy at Ben's Barn Inn. While enjoying a lively evening of good food and Bix's singing, we met a pair of travelers named William and Austin. They claimed to have come from Donnal's Crossing, which was about four to five days ride to the west. William was an older man with shaggy graying brown hair. Austin was younger and had a well-groomed salt and pepper beard. I curse the night we made their acquaintance.

Since we would be traveling through Donnel's Crossing, William asked to join us on our journey. His friend Austin would be riding on in the direction from whence we came. Or I should say that it was where he claimed he was going. In reality, the two were simple highwaymen who had marked us as easy targets. William successfully convinced us of his sincerity and I was won over by his knowledge of hunting and shooting. But there was a certain distance about him that should have alerted us to the danger. But hindsight is perfect, as they say...

We rode for several days, oblivious to the danger that loomed ahead. The weather was hot and oppressive, but the terrain was easy and we made good time. Orion, Bix, and Mumblypeg were breaking in their new mounts while Kreed bounded along in his magic boots. I continued to have pleasant conversation with William and openly admired his exquisite crossbow. I even took my watches with him.

Hunting was impossible, of course. The rumors about trouble in the forest were true. It was deathly still and we were unable to detect any sign of game. We were forced to forage for nuts and berries and dip into our reserves of iron rations, which undoubtedly suited Mumblypeg just fine.

On the 23rd, we came across evidence of a large burrowing creature. I had never seen anything like it. It looked like a giant farm furrow but Mumblypeg assured us it was made by a burrowing creature. Feeling curious, we attempted to track the furrow to its source. But it kept going on and on and we had no wish to get side-tracked on a wild goose chase. We returned to the trail and continued on our way.

Later in the day, we came across similar tracks, this time going in the other direction across the road. But we chose not to follow them. It was getting close to dark and we needed to make camp. We had a very pleasant evening by the fire that night, with Bix and Orion and myself engaged in a cookoff with the rare "fizzy berries" that I had found earlier. I could go on and on about how Bix got frustrated and kicked over his pot but I won't. The following day's events weigh too heavily on my thoughts.

Appropriately enough, the 24th of July was the New Moon. It is the day when the Goddess' connection to our world is weakest. Was that why our enemies chose that day to strike at us? I doubt it was a conscious choice, but fate surely guides our enemies just as it guides us. That the days of hot and humid weather finally exploded into a fierce thunderstorm, just at the moment when we happened across an overturned cart in the road, was yet more evidence of the cruel hand of fate.

I think we all must have realized that we were in some kind of danger, though none of us understood its nature. My own instincts betrayed me, as I was more excited about the oncoming storm than concerned about the obvious danger. Kreed approached the cart first, stealthily as he was able. No one was there and the cart was full of nails and grain. The two of us looked for tracks before the sky opened up. But our efforts were interrupted by a huge explosion. Where was Sunny when we needed her? The cart must have been trapped!

I looked around wildly and saw that Kreed was wounded in the explosion. Then  I saw an arrow sink into his arm. We were under attack! And just then, the storm began in earnest.

Orion saw the men first and cast his magic missile. One shot back with a glowing arrow of his own. With visibility as poor as it was, I called upon the Silver Huntress to illuminate our targets with moonlight. It was then that William turned on us and shot Kreed with his crossbow. We had been betrayed!

Mumblypeg brilliantly summoned his totem spirit to cause the forest to grapple our foes and their horses. Kreed went into a rage and charged the illuminated group of attackers. I attempted a few shots but missed in the excitement. I have to remember to calm down before I shoot. But my blood was up and it was hard.

In the distance I noticed a wizard casting spells against us. A fiendish rat appeared and started attacking Kreed. I was about ready to shoot my crossbow again when all of a sudden, I could not move at all. I was being magically held in place! I was terrified! I felt so helpless!

My field of vision was limited, but I did see Bix kill the dwarf. And then, amazingly, a gigantic creature burst forth from the ground to swallow the body. That must have been the creature that was making the furrows across the road. Perhaps destiny would be on our side if we could just let it fight our enemies while we regrouped.

But no, my companions saw it as a threat as well. Orion cast one of his acid arrows at it and Bix charged in singing a battlesong. I couldn't see what followed because Drachen moved in response to the noise of the other horses running away in fright. I was lucky that I stayed in the saddle.

After what seemed like minutes, I finally came to my senses and looked back to the battlefield. My friends were still fighting the beast (which looked liked an armored shark with legs). Didn't they realize that  it was a gift of the gods? Well, I for one was not going to attack it. I affected a quick enchantment on my crossbow, dismounted, and started to flank the melee. Kreed finally succumbed to his wounds and fell to the ground. I tried to remain calm but still barely missed William's head.

William noticed and shouted "you red-headed bitch!" Foul betrayer! Common brigand! To think that I shared a watch with that bastard!

But Orion was still focused on the land shark. He let fly with his glitter dust spell. I have no idea if it had any effect. All my attention was on William, who was now pointing his crossbow at Kreed's head.

"One shot this way and he dies!"

Curses! I lowered my crossbow. But then Bix rushed in to stabilize Kreed with his healing songs and William fired anyway. That double-crossing bastard! I shot him in retaliation.

But he was first to reload and once again pointed it at the still-breathing but unconscious Kreed. "We can play this game all day and I think I'll win," he said. Not knowing what else to say, I shouted back, "you shoot...you die!"

"Yes, but who else is going to die?"

But then Orion negotiated a cease-fire. Bix pulled Kreed to safety while the rest of us warily lowered our weapons and backed off. As we retreated, Mumblypeg shouted, "don't forget it was us who killed the land shark!"

The wizard replied, "a draw is a draw... nobody wins, nobody loses. If you wish to push this further I assure you we have reservoirs untapped. You have not seen the last of us."

When we had reached a safe distance, I attempted to heal Kreed. But with the New Moon, I was only able to draw on limited power. But it was enough to bring him back to consciousness. And we had little choice but to press on despite his injuries. The two of us set out after the errant horses. Orion, Bix, and Mumblypeg would guard against our enemy.

The tracks were difficult in this rain, but we managed to find Bix's steed and Hoté. As we walked them back, we heard Bix yell, "Get away from that kill mother fucker!" I think I'd be offended by his language in any other circumstances. But I smiled knowing that he was standing up to those brigands. That land shark might be the proof of this forest disturbance. There was no way we were going to let these villains claim the credit.

Emira and Chestnut were on the other side of the trail. As Kreed and I brought them back, Bix magically whispered that William had Emily. What in the nine hells had happened?

Kreed and I hurried back. When we returned I made for my backpack (currently on Drachen) to retrieve that divine scroll of hold person that we had found. Perhaps I could return the spell that was inflicted on me at the beginning of the encounter.

I hear Bix magically whisper that two of them are scurrying away, near the side of the road. Then we all hear Orion shout, "Give her back, you bastard!"

All of us race into the fray. This time I remained on Drachen, as it looked like our enemy were looking to retreat with a hostage. I needed mobility. Then I saw William get on his horse. The hunt was on and I felt a wave of excitement clear away any lingering traces of fear. I am Katja von Randstein of the World Hunt and William was my prey.

I would later learn that the wizard took to the air and fled with Emily. But right now I was racing to catch William. I drew forth the scroll and spoke its holy words as I approached. I felt power but it was of a different sort than that granted by my own deity. William was clearly not affected. Then I noticed Kreed running alongside me as William spun around in his saddle to shoot Kreed. Fortunately, he missed. I took a shot at him and missed as well. We were at full gallop now, despite the thick trees, and hitting anything would be difficult. I would have to get closer.

Then I noticed Bix and Austin fighting as I passed. I steadied myself in the saddle and hit William between his shoulder blades. He slumped forward in his saddle, but still clung to consciousness. Kreed attempted to attack his horse (gasp!) but William amazingly remained in control of his mount. I took another shot, missed, and then William managed to imbibe what was obviously a healing potion of some sort.

I shot and missed again. Then he was hit, most likely by a bolt from Bix. He turned around and shot me, barely making a cut in my new armor. We continued to ride and I think I heard Bix yell as he slew the nefarious Austin. Closer and closer I maneuvered in for the kill. Then I placed another bolt in his back and William was knocked off his horse.

But there was no sign of Emily. I quickly dismounted and suppressed any urge to dispatch my prey. I had to keep him alive for information. I summoned a small healing spell and stabilized his injuries, just enough to keep him breathing. I tied him and his gear to Drachen and led them back to the main group.

We had won the battle, but lost Emily. The wizard had escaped. We had slain two of their number and taken two prisoners: William and the cleric. We stripped our foes and added their gear to the loot pile. It was not greed but a desire to find something that could help Emily that caused us to search through their belongings at this very moment.

We found William's, magic crossbow, a magic pendant of a beast's scale, magic studded leather armor (fit for a larger man), 10 magic arrows, a magic long sword, a magic short sword, a magic long spear, and a divine scroll of protection from cold. While these were some very fine items, none of them would help us immediately. We quickly distributed the items to those who we thought could make the most use of them and threw the rest of the loot on the horses. We tied William and the cleric to their mounts so that we could lead them without waking them up.

Oh yes, we also took the fin of the land shark.

Kreed and I spent the better part of an hour trying to find tracks. We had no hope of tracking the flying wizard directly, but he must not have flown to the ambush site. All of the bandits had horses. Perhaps he would be heading in the direction from which he came?

But the rain had washed out any sign of their passage. We returned to the group to find that Bix had stormed off. He was in a fit of rage and wanted to mutilate the prisoners. As angry as I was, I knew this was not the right thing to do and I was concerned about Bix's erratic behavior. I slipped off to have a word with him while the rest of the party gathered our things.

After talking Bix down from his fit, I returned to the party and decided to give the trail another look. Amazingly, I found a faint track. Perhaps it was because my emotions had cooled. Or perhaps it was divine inspiration? Regardless, we set out to follow it immediately.

Several hours after noon, we emerged from the forest into gentle rolling hills. We still had a faint track and we followed it for another hour to the remains of a building. Bix explained that it was most likely a traveler's shelter and that Leinster was full full of them. I whispered a prayer to the Goddess to help reveal any magical auras but the place was empty. Emily and the wizard were not here. But there was certainly evidence that somebody was here several days ago and all signs seemed to indicate it was our band of brigands.

While the rest of the party searched, Bix pulled me aside and confided that he had a disturbing vision last night. He explained that he dreamed of performing to an audience of appreciative devils who were obviously happy with his recent actions. I had had my suspicions about Bix's celestial heritage for some time now, but this devil development was most disturbing. Perhaps we had been too ruthless with the brigands? Perhaps Bix was sliding toward evil. I would have to watch him carefully and I would be mindful of the rest of our actions from now on. I just wish that I could receive another vision of my own. It had been so long...

After our talk, we returned to building. Bix noticed a loose stone that the others had missed. Alas, he sprung a trap as he attempted to open it and was unnaturally weakened. Inside, there was two sacks of coin and some iron rations. There was some argument over whether this might have been left for good-aligned travelers. In the end, we agreed that the poison trap meant that they were most likely the brigands. We would take the coin and the rations.

The tracks leading away from the building were over a week old and we lost them completely by late afternoon. We eventually came to an intersection. Kreed and I decided to race down the least likely trail just in case we could catch any sign that the wizard may have gone that way. The others would take the main road to Donnal's Crossing and we would catch up with them in just over two hours.

The small road proved to be a dead end. We met an old women who had no idea what we were talking about and we narrowly avoided the attack of a gigantic insect that burst from the ground. As Kreed was still injured, all we could do was run and ride back to the party at full speed.

We caught up with the rest of the party at dusk. I asked Kreed to watch my back while I prayed. Being a New Moon, I had not expected any special revelations from the Silver Huntress. But as I concluded my prayers, I felt an enormous surge in the amount of divine power that usually flows into me. With that power came knowledge of new spells that could be used to aid us in our present course. I was so relieved... this was the guidance I was looking for!

The first new spell was one that could cure Bix of the effects of that poison trap. The other was a spell to Detect Evil. I immediately cast it towards our prisoners and was not surprised to see the cleric radiating a foul, evil aura of great intensity. William also had an evil hue to his aura, but it was fairly weak. More surprising, Bix gave off a slight evil aura, though it was more as if it were the after-effects of something rather than an indication of his nature. Still, it had me most concerned. This was a warning from the Goddess that he was not on the right path. I would do my best to set him straight.

That night, on my watch, the cleric took a turn for the worse. As much as it pained me, I used a minor spell to stabilize his wounds. We still needed information before he could be dispatched to his final punishment.

And so, we woke this morning and interrogated our prisoners. William was first. My bloodlust towards him had largely faded. All that remained was disdain. There was some disagreement about what to do with him, but in the end we agreed to set him free in exchange for information about Emily, his crossbow (which I would be keeping), and why the brigands targeted us specifically. We even agreed to give him enough equipment to find his way back to civilization. Kreed was very angry about this last point but I was too weary of cruelty to bargain any harder. There was still hope for him, I suppose, and I had given my word during the course of the negotiations.

William's information was potentially useful. We learned that the wizard's name was Daren and that he was a part of an underground wizard guild that met regularly to trade rare items and creatures. They would be meeting next in the town of Derry (in southwest Leinster) sometime in mid August. Obviously, he would attempt to sell Emily to some unscrupulous sorcerer. Well, at least we knew our destination.

I was disturbed but not at all surprised to learn that the brigands had targeted us specifically because of me. Apparently, one of my brother's men had traveled as far as Kingsport and had issued a bounty for my return. I would have to expect such attacks in the future. Thank the Goddess that I have friends to protect me now. 

Keeping  our word, Bix and I rode William several miles back to where we would release him. We left his things and his horse some ways from him and left him tied up just enough that he wouldn't be free for several hours. We didn't want him causing any trouble for us in the short term.

Returning to the camp, we attempted to interrogate the cleric. As expected, it was a futile exercise. He was Aslok, a cleric of hateful Ionian god of war, Ares, and would not consent to divulging any useful information. He only asked to die. Well, that was something I had no problems with. The goddess had clearly shown me that he was the blackest sort of evil and that death was the only option. Kreed slew him with a single cut of his massive sword.

Well, I have no more time to write. We are breaking camp and getting ready to ride.

Geomorph #101

I'm back with another geomorph. After hitting the magic 100, I found myself swamped with other business and took a bit of time off. I'm still not sure what I'd like to do for my next 100, but for now I'll stick with tiles based on classic gaming images. For this installment, we have another Russ Nicholson piece from the original Fiend Folio (yeah, I seem to be working my way through my D&D shelf).

For the goemorph, I tried to imagine a locale where you could actually have lizard kings fighting lava children. The lizard kings are entering the map from partially submersed tunnels in the north (one could assume some kind of connection to an underground waterway). The lava children would descend from a hotter and dryer region in the south.

BTW: I still intend to collect the first one hundred tiles into a PDF. The holiday break has afforded me less time that I was anticipating, though. I'll get to it as soon as I am able.

Over Hill And Under Hill

After a break for Christmas, the public re-reading of The Hobbit continues...

Over Hill And Under Hill

And now we come to the first action-packed chapter and one that starts to properly resemble something you'd find in a traditional fantasy role-playing game. Bilbo and his companions leave the safety and comfort of Rivendell to make their way over the Misty Mountains to the Wilderlands beyond. Only it doesn't go so well for them. As we'll later learn, Gandalf selected this particular pass over the mountains because the primary pass was overrun with goblins. Unfortunately for Bilbo and the gang, they'd end up practically knocking on the front porch of Goblin Town.

Goblin Gadgeteers

The goblins of this chapter are nasty and evil yet they are somehow more light-hearted than the orcs that we'll eventually see in The Lord of the Rings. They are threatening enough to capture a party of (presumably) experienced adventuring dwarves but they sing jolly songs while they do it. And we learn in this chapter that "wheels and engines and explosions always delighted" these goblins, which is a fascinating little bit of trivia. If I were to construct a game based only around The Hobbit (in much the same way that Jeff Rients proposed a Star Wars game using only the first movie) then I'd really play up this racial quirk. In previous campaigns I have always had dwarves or gnomes assume the role of tinkers or gunners or artificers. But why not move this to an antagonist race? Sure, it's not an original thought. Gadget-loving goblins have appeared variously in other media. Dungeon Siege and Labyrinth come to mind and even Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings featured full-fledged orc industry and an ungainly gunpowder bomb. But I am specifically envisioning something more akin to a cross between the Jawas of Star Wars and with the dwarves of Bungie's Myth series. They'd be dirty tinkers and tech scavengers with an almost psychotic love of explosives and infernal engines. Most civilized races and cultures would thus associate such works with goblins and would only adopt innovations after seeing them used by more respectable folk. 

Stone Giants

There are several mentions of giants in The Hobbit yet (I believe) they are entirely absent from The Lord of the Rings or other tales of Middle-Earth. Little is said of these giants except that they toss boulders about for fun in the middle of raging thunderstorms. In a later chapter, when the party finally makes it through the Misty Mountains, Gandalf will mentions that he would have liked to find a decent giant block up the entrance. That at least suggests that giants are not entirely a race of darkness. A campaign based solely on The Hobbit would need to have stone giants threatening travelers of high mountain passes.

Other Thoughts

• Goblins spread in secret after the battles with the dwarves in the Mines of Moria. They still remember these battles and harbor great ill-will towards dwarves as a result.
• Even though Gandalf could not read the runes on Orcrist and Glamdring, the goblins of Giblin Town recognize them immediately as Biter and Beater even though their is great historical distance between them and their ancestors who raised Gondolin. I wonder if this is not a magical property of the swords themselves, striking terror in their foes' hearts just as they radiate their blue light of warning. 
• Other than charging into melee with a magical broadsword, Gandalf behaves very much like a typical D&D magic-user in this chapter. He creates light on his wand and fries a bunch of goblins with fire and lighting. I can't remember seeing any similar showy displays from him in The Lord of the Rings.
• Once again, the dwarves are mostly useless as adventurers. Other than Thorin (who has a magic sword), none of the dwarves really contribute in the fight against the goblins. 

Owlbear Fight (Forgotten Songs #20)

With my wife away and my mom about to arrive to help with the boys, I can now resume blogging after a wonderful Christmas holiday. I'll kick things off with another diary entry from Katja. 

July 21st, 2000 (Waning Crescent)

It has been close to two weeks since I last wrote in this journal. I have a lot of catching up to do.

We left Harcomb early on July 9th. We had just enough time to pick up the equipment we had ordered as well as some other supplies for the road. It was terribly hot and people were not happy to see us as we rode into town. Lord Richard had called a meeting to discuss the threat posed by the Bloody Spear. No doubt the townsfolk would blame us for deserting them. I was terribly depressed.

Despite the heat, I was wearing my new studded leather armor. Harcomb's Midrallian tanner may lack for manners, but his skills are excellent. The armor was much lighter than I expected and it was very fashionably in a foreign (from a Hessian perspective) kind of way. I was not used used to wearing trousers but I can already see why the Cimbrian women seem to like them. They are much more comfortable to ride in and they don't get in the way so much. I am so thankful that the jacket opens in the front, because it is far too hot to be buttoned up in leather in this summer's heat. 

Mumblypeg did his best to distract us from our thoughts of the Harcomb situation with stories of his past. Apparently, he was indentured as an apprentice to a wizard in Leinster but eventually parted ways with his master. To prove that he was not all talk, he demonstrated his ability to magically produce flame. Though he did have a grandiose manner about him, I believed him from the start. Unless I was imagining things, I had seen Mumblypeg assume the form of a rabbit. And he certainly seemed competent in the wilderness. I began to think that he would make a fine addition to the Outsiders' Aegis once he spent some time with us.

That evening, Kreed and I had a pleasant hunt for some pheasants. After cleaning the birds and doing our best to roast them, we learned that Herr Mumblypeg will not eat meat of any kind. I think he mentioned that he had religious objections to the practice. But he did not mind his companions or even his dog eating meat. It was personal matter for him.

Later, after I observed the rites of full moon, thoughts of Harcomb began to fade away.

July 10th was our most exciting travel day. To amuse Emily, I offered to gallop ahead with her on my shoulder. It was another oppressively hot day, and Emily's spirits were sagging. I was hoping that feeling the wind over her scales without having to fly would cheer her up. But then I heard her voice in my mind scream, "look out, it's in the road!" 

What "it" was was some kind of misbegotten cross between a bear and a giant owl. I was barely able to turn Drachen before it lashed out with its claws at us. I rode back to the party and shouted for them to prepare for a fight. I called on the Silver Huntress to bless us all. We readied our weapons and then suddenly, the creature burst through the trees and attacked Kreed. 

During the previous night's prayers, I received a vision of a new spell so I decided to try it out. I summoned one of the Silver Huntress' lesser hunting dogs to fight for us. It would remain on this plane for less than a minute, so I started loading my crossbow. Bix and Kreed were already having luck against the creature, each of them landing solid blows. But it returned their blows in kind, drawing their blood and sending Bix spinning.

Thump. I hit it with my crossbow. Peeeyoo! Orion hit it with his magic missiles. But the creature was unfazed and landed another savage blow on Kreed.

Kreed was staggering so I rode in and cast a healing spell on him. Peeyoo! Orion hit the beast with another magic missile. And then, enraged from his wounds, Kreed rose up and slew the beast with a mighty strike from his sword. The beast was motionless when our old friends the blink dogs showed up to offer their assistance. Mumblypeg introduced himself to them while I claimed a trophy for this evening's sacrifice. 

The rest of the day was uneventful and terribly hot. I was sweating profusely in my new leathers but fearing another fight, I dared not take them off until my evening prayers. Kreed and I went hunting again as the others made camp and we brought down a small deer. Making the most of the kill, I saved some of the oil for use in treating our leather goods.

That night, after a pleasant dinner by a low fire, I spent much time in conversation with Orion. He was interested in learning Hessian and I wanted to learn more of the religions of Tempia and of the Oghma faith.


July 11th was the third and final day of the full moon and it was still beastly hot. After tending to Kreed's and Bix's wounds, we traveled through woods which gave way to rolling hills. We pulled into the Western Way at dusk.

The inn was packed with guests. I was pleased to see that Nara, Dwana, and Nobb were doing so well. Of course, Nob is now called "Robert" as he is now enjoying the affection of both of the sisters. 

We had a wonderful evening. There were lots of people traveling to Duma Fafne and we talked to many of them. They were interesting, adventuring types who readily swapped tales with us. We met one group called "The Defenders of the Horn", who warmed to us after Kreed bested their strongest warrior, Bjorn, in an exciting arm wrestling contest. The other members of this group were Jaques Gaston, a roguish Alorian halfling; Bulvi, a quiet cleric of Heimdall; Rovanen, a wizard of the White School; and Lief Whitecloak, a self-righteous paladin of Heimdall. Other than Gaston, they were all Einherjar crusaders against evil. We did not meet Lief and Rovanen until the next morning, but most of us stayed up late drinking and conversing with Bjorn, Bulvi, and Jaques. I spent much time learning about Heimdall from Bulvi, and well as other faiths from his homeland.

Bix was in rare form that evening. After prancing about on tables and juggling flatware, he launched into a rendition of "Kreed and the Hell Cat" before telling the tale of how we defeated the Dunn. Emily was enjoying being the attraction of the moment. We all had a great time. Because the inn was full, however, we opted to camp in our old campsite just up the road.

On the next morning, we enjoyed another breakfast with the Defenders of the Horn. Afterwards, we explored some of the merchants stalls that had sprouted up around the Western Way. We desperately wanted horses, but only found one, a brown Cimbrian named "Chestnut". We purchased the horse (along with tack and harness) for 110gp. We also purchased some feed for Drachen and and some soap. Orion traded for a pearl to be used in his identification ritual. We concluded our business by lunch and said our farewells to the "Defenders of the Horn". I really hope we meet up with them again in the future.

Eight days pass without incident. The weather remained hot. Kreed and I continued to hunt. Orion and I continued our language and religion lessons. 

On July 20th (Bix's 19th birthday) we arrived in Culliwhee, a Leinster town of about 2,000 people. We rode in at dark and were directed to an inn called "Benn's Barn" by the local watch. Casting about for rumors, we learned that there was trouble with the road to the west and something was going on in the forest. Hunting's been almost too good lately, as if all the game was being driven out into the populated areas. And there was mention of the orcs who were starting to cause problems in the north.

Today, we decided to rest in Culliwhee. Orion needs at least a day to perform his indetification ritual while the rest of us needed to purchase more supplies. This morning, Bix, Mumblypeg, and I found a reputable horse merchant. For 250gp, we were able to purchase an exquisite Hejazian mare and a feisty Cimbrian stallion, as well as tack and harness. Mumblypeg purchased a pony for himself. We actually spent the better part of the day trying out the horses and haggling with the merchant. Late this afternoon, we rode the horses back to the inn and checked on Orion, who was being guarded by Kreed. The ritual identified a Wand of Shocking Grasps, a Potion of Alter Self, and a Potion of Swimming (which I am now carrying). More interestingly, Orion unraveled the mystery of the "Drink Me" ring. Apparently, it is a Ring of Potion Storing. You can pour a potion into ring and activate it later by saying "Drink Me". It would come in handy if any of us needed the effects of a potion without having to actually fumble through our pack, unstopper a bottle, and hastily gulp a foul-tasting liquid.

Finally, we just got back from a meeting with the local lord, Duke Taltos, who practically begged us to investigate the problems they have been having in their forest. He offered us a magical mace, scepter, or rod if we succeeded. While the prize sounded nice, we were determined to stay on our mission. We were already late and memories of Lord Richard's criticism were sill fresh. We did promise to keep our eyes peeled for any trouble, however, since we would be passing through that region anyway.  

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

As can be expected for a father of two young boys, I'm a bit occupied at the moment. But with my wife heading out of town and the grandparents coming in, I expect next week will be rather productive for blogging. Of course I'll continue with The Hobbit re-read and Katja's diaries. I'm also hoping to get back into geomorphs and plan on pursuing some old and new Mythic  GME games. See you all in a few days. Until then, Merry Christmas (or whatever your chosen seasonal holiday)!

LCB Santa by S. John Ross from A Kringle In Time.

A Short Rest

In our public re-reading of The Hobbit, it's my turn to examine a few chapters in detail. Given that I've contributed my own thoughts to chapters I and II, you might not notice any difference here. But I will try to provide a little more detail when I can.

A Short Rest
Moving on from the encounter with the trolls, Bilbo and his fellow adventurers seek food and shelter in the Last Homely House of Elrond in Rivendell. Not a lot lot happens here and it seems like the chapter exists primarily to lay pipe for subsequent scenes. The magic swords that are discovered in the troll hoard are identified and secret runes on Thorin's map are revealed (detailing the secret entrance to Lonely Mountain). I also think the chapter serves the purpose of reminding Bilbo and the reader that not every episode in an adventure need be unpleasant and not every encounter need be with enemies.

Even on my first reading, I was enormously taken with the Last Homely House. It just seemed so comfortable (even more so than Bag End). Of course, long before the Jackson films I imagined it as something more akin to a cozy alpine chalet than an Art Nouveau day spa (I jest... a little... I like the Rivendell of the films as well).

This re-read has been eye-opening because I'm discovering things about each chapter that I had either forgotten completely or never noticed on prior readings. In this case, I did not recall the specific terrain on the approach to Rivendell. I always imagined it as wooded foothills. Not so, as Tolkien describes it thus:

"There seemed to be no trees and no valleys and no hills to break the ground in front of them, only one vast slope going slowly up and up to meet the feet of the nearest mountain, a wide land the colour of heather and crumbling rock, with patches and slashes of grass-green and moss-green showing where water might be."

So Rivendell really is a secret valley, a sort of Tolkienesque Shangri-La.

From a gaming perspective, I think Rivendell or a place very much like it would be a fantastic base of operations for an adventuring party, particularly if they have to experience some hardship to first gain admittance. Such a home base would feel very different than the typical frontier town inn. It would be safe, more comfortable, and offer very different resources for a party of grubby treasure seekers. Beyond the elf-made equipment, the libraries of lost lore would be an ever-flowing fountain of adventure hooks.

Other Thoughts

• It's hard to imagine the elves of The Lord of the Rings (especially the movies) as being so whimsical and jolly in their singing. In The Hobbit, there is no sense that the elves are departing Middle-Earth.
• Though undeniably long-lived, Elrond's status as an elf is somewhat ambiguous. In The Lord of the Rings, it is clear that Elrond chose immortality and thus seems more elvish than human. In The Hobbit, Elrond is describes as having ancestors among the elves and heroes of the North and that he was an elf-friend (and chief among them). 
• In the comments of my last post, Welleran suggested that Gandalf could not read the runes on Orcrist or Glamdring because he was unfamiliar with that dialect that emerged in Gondolin (diverging from the Elvish spoken in the Undying Lands where he was at the time). That sounds like a good an explanation as any for Galdalf's ignorance. Still, it is sometimes difficult for me to get a handle on Galdalf's actual limitations as compared to his affected limitations.
• On previous readings, I never noticed that Moria was mentioned!
• This Christmas season, I find myself wondering what Rivendell would be like in winter. Would its climate be moderated? For some reason, I imagine the valley deep with snow but bright with life. I can totally see the elves of The Hobbit frolicking in the snow.
  

Katja's Rant (Forgotten Songs #19)

An unusual installment of Katja's diary in that it consists almost entirely of a rant. I'll let Professor Pope discuss the out-of-game subtext in his liner notes. For now, I view this as a transitionary session as the Outsiders' Aegis prepare to leave Harcomb and diverge wildly from their original purpose.

July 8th, 2000 (Waxing Gibbous)
It is late and despite my bath, I am wound up like a spring. I feel hurt, angry, and sad all at the same time. I miss Boaz and I miss Sunny's counsel.

As we made our way back to Harcomb, I had been very much looking forward to stopping in what I had come to regard as my new home. We had three goblin prisoners and information about possible threats to the area. Our captives were members of the Burning Drum clan, splitters from the more powerful Bloody Spear. While these pathetic rabble were of little threat to the good people of Harcomb, the news of the Bloody Spear was much more distressing. They were led by a human wizard named Quint-something... the same "Q" that sent those ogres to recover the plates we now possess. Given the news and our recent encounters with this clan, I suspected Lord Richard would welcome a sober assessment of the threat.

We made our way back as Kreed, Mumblypeg, and Bix took responsibility for individual captives. Mumblypeg kept his on a short leash and Bix seemed to to take great pleasure in tormenting his. But Kreed seemed to be establishing some kind of rapport with his goblin, using his orcish language. It was Kreed (and Orion) who extracted the useful information about the Blood Spear. The interrogation also helped us loot the campsite of a small amount of money while avoiding the numerous traps.

At camp last night, after sacrificing the leader's ear to the Silver Huntress and spending some time learning about other religions from Orion, I went to bed. In the middle of the night, I was awakened to the news that Bix's goblin had escaped. We spent some time in a futile attempt hunt him down. Then I went back to bed very annoyed.

So I woke this morning with my mood tempered by vague worries of the missing goblin. But I still was looking forward to riding into Harcomb and enjoying a meal and a bath at the Last Bastion. I was even hoping to catch up with Dolb for a while.

Feeling that our news of the threat justified the immediate attention of Lord Richard, we made our way to him first. We transferred ownership of the goblin prisoners to one of Richard's men (I was relieved that we would not have to administer justice ourselves to the miserable little creatures). We were led into Lord Richard's chambers and I immediately became aware of Lord Richard's overwhelming displeasure with us.

At first, I felt enormously guilty as Richard went on and on about how he thought we had an understanding that we would remain in Harcomb. I felt terrible as he explained his disgust with our "mercenary" ways. I tried to smooth things over by delivering the news of the goblin threat. This only annoyed him even more, as he explained that he had a goblin threat and little means to fight it. I almost broke down in tears right there. I just cast my eyes down and sulked back to the Last Bastion with my companions.

Even Herr Delorean was disappointed in us.

But after sulking for an hour and discussing ways that we could honorably break our commitment to Sir Karshorn, I began to feel to angry at our reception. Nobody was considering the circumstances of our employment with Sir Karshorn. We had no knowledge of Lord Richard's enmity to his relative. We had just suffered the loss of our beloved Boaz and needed to seek experience elsewhere before we could hope to defeat the trolls that slew him. And we were dirt poor. The offer of 2,000gp was one that we just could not pass up at that time. Yes, I feel a bit guilty that we were swayed by money. But it was more than that. What would we have done here in Harcomb had we turned the job down? We had no other way to find resources to improve our chances at reaching the Oghma temple!

And what would Lord Richard think of us if we broke our commitment to Sir Karshorn? We'd be proven dishonorable and would have also angered a very powerful noble who would no doubt cause all sorts of trouble for Harcomb.

I took my leave of the Outsiders' to confide in Dolb. He also felt disappointed in us, but I feel like I was able to make him see our side of the problem. It felt good to have someone in Harcomb who didn't wish ill of us. I just hope he can convince the others that we were just trying to do the right thing.

Yes, I'm still wound up. But one bright spot in this whole mess is that we have a new and interesting companion in Mumblypeg. Over the last few days, I have learned that he his from Leinster and was once trained to be a wizard. But he had some falling out with his former master and left to adventure. On his adventures, he actually slew a troll! But then he fell victim the same type of life-draining attack of the undead that Bix did at the hands of the Bastard Thomas Dunn. Now, Herr Mumblypeg is still trying to recover from that wound, though his bright disposition hardly shows it. I do hope he continues to travel with us. I think I will ask the others if we should invite him into the Aegis.

Tomorrow, we will make every effort to leave this town before anybody else can get a chance to chastise us. But we still have some goods that need to be picked up.... first among them is my new armor. I hope it is ready.

A Kringle In Time

I can't possibly let this Christmas season pass without mentioning S. John Ross' loving yet blasphemous tribute to all the Christmas traditions that we hold dear. That would be A Kringle In Time, an epic comedy adventure that holds its own next to other classic and not-so-classic epic adventures of a more serious bent. If you are a fan of Risus: The Anything RPG then you simply must run out and give it a look. This 84-page epic (for a 6-page rule system) shows Risus in all its zany glory. And if you can run the adventure, even better! I've attempted it twice with two different groups. The first time we ran through the opening chapters using students and staff at a Hogwarts-like magical boarding school. The second time I ran it for Professor Pope, Cthulhu's Librarian, and another friend with the premise that the characters were misfit gamers who  had nothing better to do on Christmas Eve than to play D&D in a run-down comic shop. That second game was a marathon session that covered everything in the module but for Baby Jesus and all the cannibalism.

If Risus is not your thing, the adventure is worth the price of admission just to read an amazingly funny and immensely playable holiday-themed adventure. While Risus would be my first choice, it would be a snap to adapt it to other game systems. The premise of the game doesn't require characters from any specific genre or setting. You just need to figure out to express the Seven Avatars of Sin, the Dark Spawn of Shub-Tannenbaum, Dread Cthistmas, and a certain red-nosed despot (among others). Not a difficult task with a light system. This is a comedy adventure, not rocket-science.

Anyway, what are you waiting for? Head over here and amuse yourself with the product info page and samples of the groovy maps.

Roast Mutton

And so the public rereading of The Hobbit continues. I'm due to write-up chapters three and four shortly, but I did want post a few thoughts on Chapter II: Roast Mutton.

Civilized Trolls
Perhaps I am misremembering The Lord of the Rings. Or perhaps my memories are colored by the Jackson films. I always imagined the trolls of Middle-Earth as being humanoid but rather inhuman monsters. Not so much for William, Burt, and Tom. They have remarkably human (English) sounding names and though they are uncouth man-eaters, they do affect the trappings and manners of human civilization. As a fairy tale or children's story, this seems fine. But as a part of the larger Middle-Earth mythos, these guys seem like outliers.

Considering a game set in Eriador, how does one handle these semi-civilized trolls of Rhudaur? Assuming "Middle-Earth is Always Right", I'd say that they have had dealing with hillmen or Dunlendings. Perhaps they are a part of a tribe of trolls that have been preying on the margins of debased human societies for so long that they now assume the character of their prey? They wear clothes like them, assume their names, and speak their language.

On a related note: Jeff Rients proposed an nifty Star Wars campaign where only the events of the first movie were considered. Taking the same approach with The Hobbit might be interesting. In that case, all trolls would have English-sounding names and act like the dwarf-catchers of this chapter. It's an interesting thought and one that I'm going to ponder...

Random Notes
* What's up with the dwarves managing to get caught up by these loser trolls? Either the dwarves are operating at a penalty for being homeless or Bert, Tom, and William have a lot more cunning than it would appear.
* Magic purse... I missed that on previous readings.
* Trolls turn to stone with all their gear... this implies more of a magical curse than a property of their inhuman biology.
* It seems strange that Gandlaf can't read the runes on the swords. Maybe he's keeping his cards pressed closely to his chest?
* Again, dwarves put spells on the gold. What does this mean? I imagine it is some kind of obfuscation to keep random passer-byes from finding it. Is this something that all dwarves can do?

Undiscovered Awesome: Million

It pays to read signature blocks. While perusing some apparently innocuous back-and-forth on Risus Talk,  I noticed that André Lacerte had created a little site called Risus Million. Upon following the link, I discovered that the site is in no way little. It's an incredibly detailed and delightfully weird setting that seems perfect for Risus. With fascinating articles about various facets of life and death (or lack thereof) in the city, the "abridged" guidebook is a wonderful example of economical world building. If you are at all interested in bizarre urban fantasy that evokes Terry Pratchett, China Miéville, Max Fleischer cartoons then I highly recommend giving it a look. 

Mumblypeg (Forgotten Songs #18)

Weird how I thought I'd have so much time after my work deadline passed. But I failed to account for the whirlwind of pre-Christmas activity. I have new geomorphs and Risus content that I'm itching to post, but that will have to wait until next week. In the mean time, here's the next installment of Katja's diary.

July 7th, 2000 (Waxing Gibbous)
As I write this, things are getting back to normal for the remaining members of the Outsiders' Aegis. We still grieve for our lost general, but we are excited to return to Harcomb and begin our new quest.

We left Emily's home on July 4th and began the slow process of making our way down the slopes of the mountains. It was a cool and pleasant day at this altitude. We soon passed the lair of the manticores, which Emily was perceptive enough to find for us. We agreed that now would be a good time to search the lair for treasure. Unfortunately, it was a rather difficult climb. Of our little band, only Kreed is a skilled climber. While I like to climb, I lack the physical strength and height required to hoist myself up on handholds. Therefore, I didn't bother to pursue the climb once I made the first ledge. I decided to spend the afternoon caring for Drachen and the donkey Hoté.

The others didn't return to our camp until late in the afternoon. All three of them seemed battered and bruised from falls. Kreed was the only one that successfully reached the lair and his discovery of gold, jewelry, and a magic wand seemed to make their effort and our delay worthwhile. But all three of them were frustrated and annoyed at the day's events and I tried my best not to rub it in that I had a rather comfortable day at the camp.

As for the magic wand, we had very little idea of what it did. Bix made an attempt to activate it but he only managed to get himself shocked. Apparently bent on self-destruction, Bix also attempted to activate our as yet unidentified "drink me" ring. He succeeded with that one and produced a quickening effect on himself. It was very amusing watching him run about and speak at twice the regular speed. Unfortunately, the ring would not work for anybody else. Perhaps it had run out of charges?

July 5th was also very pleasant. In fact, it was so pleasant that we had nothing but idle conversation as we continued our way down the mountain. Everyone was in much better spirits.

On July 6th it started to warm up as we passed down into easier terrain. It was the first day where the terrain was such that I could ride Drachen so I ranged ahead to give him a little workout. And then I spotted the hind-quarters of what must have been the biggest rabbit I have ever seen. Thinking of dinner, I quietly loaded my crossbow and promptly shot him. But instead of slaying dinner, a little gnome squealed in pain and stood up from behind the rock. I was mortified! I leapt down from Drachen, put down my crossbow, and approached him cautiously. He must have been a shapechanger of some kind, or more likely an illusionist. I offered my apologies and attempted to heal him. Strangely, the magic of Silver Huntress had little effect on him and it took all my daily allotment of spells to patch him up completely.

After many apologies and offers of food, I was able to convince the poor fellow that I was safe. He introduced himself as Mumblypeg. He had a Pembroke accent and we would later learn that he was from Leinster and headed back in that direction (through Harcomb). Since he was traveling our way, I suggested that he travel with us for safety. He agreed and we set off.

Mumblypeg did not remind me of the gnomes of Hess. Hessian gnomes are master tinkerers. This fellow reminded me more of a woodsman or even one of the Grayleaf's brownies. He was a heavily armed garden gnome. He was also carrying two magic items (as I divined from the goddess' magic).

Last night, Mumblypeg shared my watch. I was little uncomfortable with him since I still felt terrible about the circumstances our meeting. And he is an exceedingly odd individual.

It is much warmer today than it had been in the mountains. I'm beginning to feel a bit sticky in my clothes. I'm looking forward to bathing at the Last Bastion.

Halfway through the day, we found the hanged body of a woodsman along with numerous goblin tracks. Suspecting an ambush, we cautiously approached. Sure enough, the body was rigged with a thunderstone. Kreed shook off the effects in time for him to assist us in fighting off a full goblin attack. But they were surprisingly easy to deal with. Perhaps these goblins (who bore the standard of the bloody spear) were not as fierce as others that we had faced? Regardless, their leader broke away and I rode him down on Drachen, claiming his ear for the Silver Huntress. I returned to camp with his body to find that my companions had captured three of the goblins alive.

So, I'm writing this as Kreed and Orion attempt to interrogate them using the Orcish language. Capturing them alive has complicated things. We will be able to find the other members of their tribe and learn some valuable intelligence. But now we have to decide what to do with them. I hate the thought of just executing them in cold blood, even if they are savage goblins.

An Unexpected Party

Professor Pope has proposed a public reading and discussion of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Even though I'll be taking chapters three and four in a few days, I wanted to chime in with some brief thoughts on the chapters that he's currently covering. Specifically, I'm looking at this project from a gamer perspective. What gaming-related thoughts do I have with these books now (as opposed to back in the day).

An Unexpected Party
"In a hole in the ground... yada yada yada"

Ok, if you are reading this blog then chances are you have already read The Hobbit and you already know that the first chapter introduces Bilbo, Gandalf, and the thirteen dwarves that are desperate to reclaim their ancestral halls from an nasty old dragon. Here are the thoughts that came to mind while reading the book to my boys:

Anachronisms 
I guess I knew this in the back of my mind, but The Hobbit seems loaded with anachronisms that would otherwise seem out of place in an ancient (presumably) European setting. If The Hobbit is simply read as a children's story or faerie tale then the existence of potatoes, tobacco, clocks, and even golf can be gleefully ignored.  But read as a critical moment in the history of Middle-Earth... well, Tolkien has some explaining to do.

There have been posts in this corner of the blogosphere postulating the maxim "D&D Is Always Right". Well, if we assume that "Middle-Earth Is Always Right" then it can lead us in interesting directions. They really did have tobacco, potatoes, clocks, and even golf in Middle-Earth. The trick is to explain it. One possibility is that these things were only vaguely similar to modern foodstuffs and leisurely Scottish pastimes. The teller of the tale could simply be using modern English to describe something in the closest modern approximation (much like how ancient Westron is rendered as English).

An alternative approach is that there really were potatoes, golf, clocks, and even fireworks in Middle-Earth. It's just that these things were forgotten in the mists of time and eventually reemerged in the modern era. Perhaps those New World crops we planted by ancient Dunedain mariners and we only rediscovered as Europeans crossed the oceans. Perhaps it was only dwarves that mastered the intricacies of clockwork and that humans had to wait thousands of years to discover the secret for themsleves.

Regardless of the explanation, these anachronisms give Middle-Earth a kind of timeless and familiar feel. And the existence of modern comforts helps emphasize the idea that the present age fell away from some kind of past ideal. While I disagree with that philosophy as it applies to real life, it is a useful and entertaining conceit in a campaign setting. Much that once was is lost for none now live who remember it.

The Other Hobbits
There are no other hobbits, though quite a few of Bilbo's ancestors are mentioned. I found this curious this time through the book. In The Lord of the Rings, the Shire feels alive with all manner of interesting furry-footed characters. Here, only hobbits that lead to the existence of Bilbo are mentioned. But these stories of Bilbo's ancestors (the Old Took, the Bullroarer) provide hints of a fascinating time for adventuring in Middle-Earth. It would be especially cool to have a game set around the time of the Battle of Greenfields (that time when gold was supposedly invented).

Minor Magics
The Old Took had a pair of daimond studs that fastened themselves. What an awesome little piece of treasure. I love the idea of little magics that are not so useful as they are just wondrous. And the whole setting seems infused with subtle magic. yes, spells are mentioned (the dwarves are mentioned as having put spells on their gold to protect it), but in all of The Hobbit (and The Lord of the Rings) there is very little spell-casting as we would know it in D&D. It's more often hedge magic, a enhancing nature or an item's nature through craft and lore.

Other Miscellaneous Thoughts
* Good thing they ate so much food the night of that unexpected party. Bilbo's going to be away from Bag End for a while and I can only imagine all the food rotting away.
* What does "enchanted gold" really mean?
* A lot of emphasis on familial ties and bloodlines. Bilbo's Baggins and Took sides are constantly competing for influence.
* None of the dwarves look anything like Gimli in the recent movies. They are not (yet) wearing armor. If anything, they look like something out of a Peter Mullen drawing (which is cool).

Manticores (Forgotten Songs #17)

And so continues the diary of Anna-Katarina von Randstein ("Katja"). For those of you who are just joining us, I have been posting session logs of a fantasy campaign that produced one of my favorite characters, a character that was responsible for the relaunch of this blog a year ago [see "The Moon Goddess is a Harsh Mistress"]. Professor Pope has been providing a commentary track for these write-ups from the GM's point of view and it's fascinating to see the differences in perspective.

July 3rd, 2000 (First Quarter)
It has been one week since I last wrote. I just haven't been up to it. The loss of Boaz and the departure of Sunny have almost been too much to bare. But I think I'm doing better now. We've had an exciting trip back to Emily's family's cave and the four remaining members of the Outsiders' Aegis are closer than ever.

We left Harcomb on the 27th, after getting an advance from Sir Karshorn for horses. But, as was expected, there were no horses to purchase. Hopefully, we'll be able to purchase some later in our mission. Without them, I fear the trail might grow cold.

The first day of travel was unremarkable but for the extreme heat and humidity. And none of us spoke much, as our hearts were still heavy from grief.

On the 28th, the heat continued. But Kreed and I were feeling up to a little hunting, and between the two of use we brought back enough food to feed us all for several days. We also found goblin tracks, which we decided not to pursue at this time.

On the morning of the 29th, we could feel the weather start to shift. A storm was going to roll in and I found my spirits rising in anticipation. Kreed also transferred his magic boots to Bix over breakfast, and Bix's gleeful jumping antics brought smiles to all of our faces. For the rest of the day, we had a pleasant journey up into the mountains with a refreshing summer rain and distant sounds of thunder.

On the 30th, the terrain grew too severe for me to continue to ride Drachen. So I dismounted and fell back to the rear of the marching order. The rain was starting to wear out its welcome, as it made our path rather slippery. After lunch, Emily returned from an afternoon flight in a state of panic. She was pursued by a "porcupine with wings", or as Bix would later tell us, a manticore.

Immediately, I blessed our group with the favor of the Silver Huntress. Not a moment later, Drachen and I were grazed by flying spikes. I looked in the sky, saw the manticore, and shot it with my crossbow. It didn't even flinch. Drachen then took another spike in his flank. Then I saw Kreed hit it with one of his javelins. After a few more shots, we were able to bring it down with missile fire. But it was still coming at us down the slope of the mountain.

And then it was on us. Bix was raked by its claws and Kreed was bit. But Kreed once again displayed his might by slaying the beast with a single stroke of his sword.

All of us were wounded and tending to those wounds was my first priority. But it was an amazing fight. We had conquered another legendary beast. After our double defeat at the hands of the trolls, our confidence desperately needed this victory. To commemorate our victory, I sacrificed part of the beast to the Silver Huntress in my evening ritual.

But we were not finished with manticores. Almost at dawn, on Orion's watch, our camp was attacked by the slain manticore's mate. A rain of spikes fell on our campsite, miraculously missing all of us. We woke and reached for our weapons. But Ouch! I was hit. And hit again! And Bix got hit hard as well. I rolled over, healed Bix,  got hit again, and healed myself. Kreed stepped up and engaged it in melee combat. Even Emily got into it, using her poisoned tail to stab at its feet. After a tremendous blow from Kreed, Bix finished the creature with a stab from his magic sword (now glowing bright white).

So much for sleeping. Since I had exhausted my healing spells, Bix used the whacking wand to tend to my injuries. Kreed and I also foraged for food while Orion prepared his daily spells.

On July 2nd, we were arrived at Dave & Marsha's cave. No one was home and there were huge tracks about. After an initial panic, we discovered a telepathic note saying that the dragonkin had gone off with their full dragon "relative". Now what? We had come to return Emily and now her parents weren't expected back for some time. We had to leave soon to pursue our mission for Sir Karshorn.

After some discussion, we decided to wait one day and then leave a note for Dave and Marsha. Emily would come with us. It was her choice. We had fulfilled our obligation to bring her back and we could not be responsible for Dave and Marsha's absence. However, I still feel responsible for Emily and hope that our subsequent adventures do not bring her to harm.

But now, on July 3rd, I can honestly say that our spirits are bright again. The weather is cool and the view from Dave and Marhsa's cave is spectacular. We are all excited about pursuing this small mission and going on to meet Sunny in Duma Fafne. Perhaps then we reassemble the Outsiders' Aegis in full and make another attempt at the Oghma temple?

From the Monkey Archives: The Cult of the Long Night

On Tuesday's post about Middle-Earth Role Playing (MERP), I mentioned that I found an adventure that I had constructed back when I was in high school. It's a poorly edited type-written manuscript that nevertheless provides a fascinating glimpse into the GM style of my 16-year-old self. Not having read it for over twenty years, I am surprised at how much of a sandbox it is.

Anyway, I'm over being embarrassed by my juvenilia. Here is the link to the document:

The Cult of the Long Night. 

Small Hands

Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.

Elrond (from The Fellowship of the Ring)

Back when I was first getting into Risus, I discovered a campaign site called Small Hands (by Rob Barrett). Whereas most Risus material that I had previously noticed skewed heavily towards outright comedy, Small Hands took itself pretty seriously. In a nutshell, the game focused on ordinary folk in and around the village of Bree as they dealt with decidedly parochial threats. For some reason the concept really appealed to me and I still think it would be a great way to run a low-level Lord of the Rings campaign. Eriador (the region roughly between the Shire and Rivendell) has a great D&D-ish vibe. The region was once home to an ancient kingdom (Arnor) but is now largely depopulated. All that remains are isolated settlements, ruins, and wilderness. And the settlements that do exist seem disconnected from the civilized lands to the south. This is a region where ordinary characters could march off into the wilds with some converted farming implements and return with ancient coins and forgotten artifacts.

Anyway, Small Hands was very influential in the development of my own Risus campaigns. It's Character Creation Guidelines employ pretty much the same set of options that I use in all my Risus games. It's too bad that the site site was never completed. While there are some awesome links to general Lord of the Rings RPG material, the Character Roster and Session Summaries were never fleshed out. I wonder if Rob Barrett ever managed to get the game off the ground. If so, I would love to hear how it went.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I did manage to run a single session of Risus Middle-Earth for my old high-school gaming buddies. I started with the concept outlined in Small Hands and married it to a D&D module called  Nemoren's Vault that I was recently perusing. The idea was that a disparate group of local characters would come into the inheritance of an old Dúnedain manor in the wilds of Rhudaur (or perhaps Arthedain). The rest was a straight dungeon crawl to see what goodies they actually inherited.

Of course, this being Risus, the characters created by the players did veer into a cartoonish version of the Lord the Rings (which was totally cool for a one-shot). I can't recall the names of the characters but I do remeber the four of the five concepts/cliches (the fifth must have been a rogue of some sort based on his behavior during the adventure):

• Bookish Gondorian Loremaster
• Overweight Elven Archery Shark (as in "pool shark")
• Dwarf Gadgeteer Who Spent His Youth in Rohan
• Dismounted Mûmak Rider from Far Harad (with his howdah crew as a sidekick) 

Not quite as local or serious as I would have done Small Hands, but it did make for a great adventure. And the best thing was that I didn't have to do any prep work. With Risus, I was able to convert everything in the module on the fly. And we actually managed to complete the adventure in one sitting, which would have never happened if I were using more traditional rules.

Middle-Earth Role Playing

Now that I'm introducing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to my kids I find myself getting all nostalgic for my own early history with Middle-Earth. I discovered The Hobbit in a library in about fourth or fifth grade. My buddy at the time shared my love of the story and the two of us spent hours in improvised role playing even before we had discovered D&D.  When D&D did come along (Moldvay-Cook B/X), we were well into The Lord of the Rings and drew inspiration from Tolkien's world-building when creating our first adventures. We emulated Tolkien's style in our maps, created languages similar to Elvish, and even learned to write in Dwarven runes.

Years passed and I grew apart from my elementary school buddy. He went on to pursue other interests while I became good friends with a bunch of guys that were already playing D&D. But I only played a few sessions with them before the siren song of Middle-Earth drew us all to Iron Crown's Middle Earth Role-Playing (MERP).

Ah, MERP! I remember riding my bike for miles to the closest to hobby store to pick up the original game and numerous fine supplements, all of which I still possess. As I recall, I was the one who advocated the change in system, seduced as I was by detailed and entertaining charts, a novel magic system, and faithful support of a scared setting. But I didn't take the GM's chair at first. I only took over when a friend threw up his hands in frustration when our creative use of spell casting short-circuited his adventure (something about using wall-of-water water walking spells to cross a lava pit). That left me to take over and I created an epic adventure that lasted all summer. I remember marathon session's in my friend's basement featuring Merrimas the Hobbit, Khadbahl the Dwarf, and Calarmir Half-Elven (among others). I remember the joy we took in the exquisite combat result tables ("E-Crit!"). I still have the type-written manuscript for that adventure sitting in my original MERP box and may even post it if I can get over the my embarrassment.  

Looking back on the rules, I wonder if I could run the system these days. My current tastes run much more to rules light systems. In fact, the only time I ever revisited Middle-Earth at a game table was when I ran a session of Risus for that same group of high-school friends a few years back. Thinking about future games in Middle-Earth, I think I'll talk more about that in a subsequent post.

The Last Priest of Oghma (Forgotten Songs #16)

And so we reach a critical moment for the Outsider's Aegis. The previous encounter with the Troll should have been a big hint that we were in way over our heads. Alas, we went back for more and got hammered for it. As a player, this was a tough sessions. We lost two characters (one to death, one to player departure) and we all felt a little lost. Katja's log adds an appropriate level of drama to the situation and outside of meta-game issues, it was another seminal moment in the development of her character.


June 26, 2000 (New Moon)
I am having great difficulty writing and I am overcome with grief. We have lost one of our own and our fellowship is breaking. And I fear that it will be some time (if ever) before the Outsiders Aegis reaches that lost Oghma temple.

After our initial defeat at the hands of the trolls we did our best to assemble a strategy to combat them effectively. General Boaz had some brilliant ideas involving luring the trolls out with a bait of wild game and incinerating them with vials of burning oil. While recouping in Harcomb, we purchased supplies and gathered our strength. Sunny attempted to hone her skills by sparring with Dolb and Freidrich Karshon's men. One of the few happy moments in these last few days was seeing the slight framed Sunny humiliate one of those arrogant knights.

On Sunday the 22nd we set off to execute our plan. It began as a lovely day. Discovering that our meat had been stolen over the night turned out to be a boon as I was able to work off some of my jitters on an early morning hunt. I brought down a large stag that I then slung over Drachen's. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to properly bait the trap as the troll smelled us coming almost right away.

It was initially only one troll and he was some ways off. I cast a spell to ward Boaz against evil and dismounted to help prepare the pitch. When the troll entered range, Kreed threw a flaming javelin and Boaz charged into melee. Sunny hurled flaming oil and set the creature on fire. I attempted to invoke the power of the Goddess to install fear in the troll, but it was too stupid to know real fear. 

Then  the other two trolls appeared out of the bog. Kreed and I both failed in setting them on fire with flaming oil. Orion fortunately landed a magic missile on one of them. Then Kreed scored a hit with his massive sword while Orion hit another. And Kreed continued to pound away on one of them but they would not go down. I began to fear that we would have to retreat again.

In the confusion of the battle, I found myself in melee combat with a troll! Dodging and parrying, I was barely able to avoid getting torn to pieces and I still took a nasty wound. It was Drachen who saved me as he entered the fray upon hearing my cry. I took cover behind him and withdrew to a safer distance.

And then it happened. I hadn't been paying attention to that side of the battle but our much respected General Boaz was most cruelly slain by the original troll.

I think I must have screamed but I can't remember. I do remember casting a hastening spell on myself so that Sunny could make use of Drachen to retreat. We had to retreat. We had lost Boaz and we still had not slain any of the trolls. I must have shouted something to that effect.

But the remaining members of Outsider's Aegis were able to escape and inflict some parting damage on trolls as well. Orion felled the one that killed Boaz. I moved in and keep him down longer while Bix invoked new magic powers in his sword to inflict yet more damage on the regenerating creature.

But we needed to focus our attention on the two that still lived. Kreed took a series of brutal blows and was knocked down. Orion hurled an acid arrow and I followed with a regular bolt from my crossbow. Sunny made an attempt to scoop up Kreed from the back of Drachen, but Kreed's weight got the better of her and she fell. A troll wasted no time in clawing her most viciously.

As it so often happens, it was Orion that saved us. He cast his glitterdust spell and the trolls stumbled away blindly, dazed by the sparkling dust. It gave us just enough time to heal Kreed with the whacking wand and beat a hasty retreat with the body of Boaz, the last priest of Oghma.

I'll leave it to Bix to eulogize our fallen friend. I do not have the talent to eloquently communicate how I feel. All I can do is think of the hole that I feel in my heart. Boaz was the most difficult of the group for me to grow to like. He was often very critical of me and I mistakenly took this personally when I should have took it as constructive criticism. Boaz was the wisest of us all and I regret that I'll never be able to learn all I should have from him. He could have been a terrific mentor for me because even though he followed a different faith, I sense that his god was an ally of mine. And we would certainly need his expertise if and when we eventually reach the temple.

But that seems so far away. We have been defeated twice as we attempted to merely scout the exterior. And without Boaz, how can we hope to get any closer (let alone face the certain traps on the inside)?

I also find myself questioning the reason for this. Boaz was destined to be with us. He was revived from a petrified state and met up with us on that fateful night in the White Grove. Perhaps his destiny was only to defeat the Bastard Thomas Dunn, for Boaz played a critical role in that bit of heroism. But what about Oghma? Was Boaz truly the last priest of the forgotten god? Would Oghma call another to replace him? As a follower of the Silver Huntress, I now feel an increased sense of mortality. Just being the last priest of a religion is no shield against the cruelties of fate.

I find that I can hardly write about the rest. We journeyed back to Harcomb in a state of mourning. And as we returned to the village, other villagers shared in our pain. Father Carmine offered to lay him to rest until we could suitably intern him within the walls of the Oghma temple. Tom Delorean also helped sponsor a wonderful funeral for our fallen friend. As with young Fergus, Bix performed a moving tribute, though his own emotions made it difficult to stay focused. In general, we all comforted each other for several days. I also sought solace with the O'Finns, which brought out even more painful emotions in me (it is too difficult to write about such things right now... better to put it out of mind).

It almost doesn't seem worth it to mention it, but our clothes and other supplies were now largely ready. At least had something clean to wear to Boaz' funeral. And because of Boaz' sacrifice, the town's leather worker withdrew some of his grudge against us... enough that I felt comfortable commissioning some masterwork studded leather armor.

Yesterday, the day after the funeral (and after Kreed's foolish attempt to scout the troll bog alone), we finally got down to the business of discussing the future of the Outsiders' Aegis. I argued that we should continue to remain together since I still felt the pull of destiny.. And we owed it to Boaz to find a resting place for him beneath the Oghma temple. But Sunny would have none of it. She confessed that she had other business to attend to and had to depart. I think I must have cried right there. Our little family felt like it was breaking up. But Bix, Kreed, and Orion agreed to remain with me and carry on with our mission. I think Bix just liked the company but Kreed and Orion both seemed to feel some additional responsibility to honor Boaz and his forgotten god.

Sunny seemed touched with our dedication and agreed to rejoin us in Duma Fafne. Bix and I gave her the diamond earring that we found so that she now had a matched pair. I also told her to give my regards to Morandil if she saw him.

Today is the 26th of June. Appropriately, it is a New Moon. My Goddess is at the nadir of her power and influence and so is the Outsider's Aegis. But things can only get better from here. We have a new mission to recover a family heirloom for Sir Karshorn. Admittedly, few of us have any reason to pursue this quest other than for the substantial sum of money that he offered us. But we have reached an impasse with the Oghma temple and perhaps a little side quest will help us come back with a fresh perspective.

The quest involves tracking down the Scepter of Karshorn, last seen in the town of Walszcezk. We are to be paid 2,000gp for its recovery, 250gp of this up front as an advance. Somebody named Vladj the Red is associated with the scepter. As we pass through the town of Nollin (on the Leinster/Midrallian border), we will meet up with one of Sir Karshorn's men. We will know him from the Karshorn house symbol (a red sparrow with a rose on a white field). This village is a 2 week ride from Harcomb.

But first, we have an obligation to check in with Emily's parents. Orion hopes she will continue to travel with us, but I fear that she's just not cut out for this sort of thing. Better to see her safe at home. On the way back through Harcomb, we'll pick up our remaining supplies (including my new armor and the Dunn's spear).