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The Arvan Game Pt. 2

Thusly Bers (Jennifer's character) and Dead-Eye (Cris' character) marched along with Tyvan riding on his goat and his 8 scraggly deputies, criminals left to the same fate as our pair of heroes, on their way to farmer Mull's residence to track down the killer of livestock. Dead-Eye immediately volunteered to run ahead to act as scout to which Tyvan immediately relented with a shrug of his white mustache as he puffed away on his pipe.

A dirty faced red haired kid around 13 years of age armed with a knife, a pair of sketchy fighters with studded leather armor, clubs and wooden shields and 5 dirty, rag-wearing mooks with clubs and dull wood-axes (oh yeah and daggers but doesn't everybody got those?) composed the poorly drawn line of deputies. Bers walked along side Tyvan. It would be 1 days travel along East Bend ending at the roads dead end then another 2 hours the next morning through the forest arriving at the farm. As they traveled Tyvan kept taking shots from a silver flask he kept close to his heart. When Bers asked for a snort of it he made a weak excuse as to why he couldn't share.

As night fell and it came timne to find a place to camp Dead-Eye spotted a large camp fire not too far from where he spotted an ideal place to camp, someone had beaten them to it.

Dead-Eye ran back to Tyvan at the head of the column of deputies to let him know of the possible situation. To which Tyvan responded while stroking his white goattee, "Ah well then, good thing I've brought my wine skins. So let's withdraw a safe distance and hide out for a couple of days until they move on. Yup, that sounds good."

To that Dead-Eye proposed that he would go hail them while Tyvan and the rest waited right there. Tyvan agreed.

Dead-Eye sneaked up to the edge of the camp undetected where he spied three covered wagons circled about a large bonfire surrounded by a widely varied group of individuals most armed with simple clubs and wearing what amounted to rags drinking and preparing a meal. There were guards which were well-armed, six of them, guarding a single wagon their faces obscured by face-wrapping though he could see their eyes were reptilian and their swords of a foreign design (Tulwars). He recognized them as foreigners from the Mere, a far-off land of inhuman swamps. These were Reptils (the Lizardmen of this world) in lands where they should have no business. He spied another climbing from the guarded wagon. A scout wearing a scale-mail vest with a chainmail coif armed with a short-bow and a cutlass. Dead-Eye could see was half human. He lead a mysterious fully red-cloaked figure from the wagon to the only tent set up on the farside from the ranger. This is the moment Cris decided to announce himself, with his arms raised he approached the Reptil guards, their weapons drawn.

Dead-Eye was told they were traveling North-East to the Arns (mountains which form the Eastern border of the Cleft-Rills territory led by an egnimatic leader named Blackfork (the red-cloak). Tyvan came right up to them from behind Dead-Eye and heartily greeted them and through his sheer charisma got them to agree to let his band camp alongside them even share in their meal.
Bers came jogging up after him shrugging to the ranger.

While sharing the meal Bers and Dead-Eye were convinced they were among a cult its wide-eyed members talking euphorically about their enlightened leader Black-Fork.

Morning came and Black Fork's people moved on as did Tyvan's motley band. The band was short two souls, probably deserters, fortunately the pair of fighters were still with them. They came to Mull's farm. Tyvan took another snort from his flask and went to greet the farmer. The farmer and 1 son where there to greet them, the farmer bemoaning the loss of most of his cattle and of his 3 older sons whom went to track down what they believed to be a wolf or a roc. One came back suffering a missing arm and an open side telling of his brothers being snatched by flying creatures. Further prodding got the farmer to admit his son had mentioned the word "dragon". He also told them of a farm further North-East across Farm Creek which was also losing animals. The last time they talked with the patriarch of that family was nearly two months.

Tyvan set his men to gaurd duty and he himself took up residence in the farmers longhouse, Bers and Dead-Eye included. Night came and they found themselves eating the farmer's meat and drinking his wine, they felt a little guilty, Tyvan did not appear mind but he seemed a bit jumpy and more eager to grow fat at the farmer's expense and avoid his mission. So the farmer eventually asked them for a plan to which Tyvan tried to stall so Dead-Eye took charge and came up with a plan to carry out the next night granted the farmer could spare 1 more cow.

To Be Continued … (sorry ran out of time to blog, I'll try to make the next one longer especially since the campaign continues into its second part!)

Arvan: Land of Dragons Game Pt. I

Both characters emerged from the treeline, Bers (played by Jen) wearing a chain-mail coif on her head, a chain-shirt with a battle ax and plain, unpainted wooden shield. Dead-Eye (played by Cris) leading the way wearing dirty soft-leather and cowl & cape carrying his bow, a sword and Bowie knife on his belt and a tomahawk slipped under it. He also had a few fat rabbits hooked to his belt as his initial hunting check was very lucky. Both possibly fleeing a life of fur-trapping and wood-cutting had they remained at home. The tiny village of Dreyton lay sitting at the base of a small hill a short distance away, the walls of the Fertum Dreyhawk nothing but a speck several miles off further to the North West. As soon as they were within the village they made a bee-line to the beer-hall only stopping to sell off the rabbit pelts for a couple of Fliks (1 Flik is worth a quarter of a Copper Piece). The banners on the front of the beer-hall bore the standard of a Black Hawk with 1 outstretched wing on a blue field (would be obvious to the characters that it is the heraldry of the lord of the Fertum), the heraldry of the village being a black sword through a gold coin on a blue field.

Inside the beer-hall the characters use the last of their coin, about 3 cp (copper pieces) between the two, for drink. The tiny log structure was mostly empty, two warriors with the villages arms painted on their shields sit finishing their meals and ale. Two hunters, one a human the other a faun clad in dirty furs sat chatting in quiet tones. The barkeep was a pudgy unfriendly man. After observing the room for a drink or two and after slapping down the rabbits on the bar to be cooked for him Dead-Eye decided to approach the two hunters while Bers remained at the table in the corner near the door, her back to the wall.

Needless to say the hunters were overtly hostile with very strong almost unintelligible accents (their reaction roll was somewhere around 6 but since Dead-Eye has a pretty lousy Charisma …) after being asked, “How’s the hunting?” As the two fighters walk out of the building.

Dead-Eye beat them to the draw and punched the Faun in the face. The Faun pulled out his short sword and the dirty human his club. Both missed when they swung on him, Bers grabbed her ax and ran around to the human and killed him with a single stroke cutting him in tow and getting covered in gore. Dead-Eye stabbed the faun in the chest killing him almost instantly. As soon as the body splattered into the blood on the floor a crossbow bolt thudded into the wall just next to Dead-Eye’s head. The Barkeep had shot a crossbow bolt at him and had nearly hit (within 1 pt. of making the head-shot), Dead-Eye exclaimed, “He SHOT at my HEAD!” and tosses his tomahawk at him missing him by just about as much burying it into an ale barrel. Just then the Sheriff marches in with four village warriors each baring a shortspear. Accusations fly and of course the two rowdies are arrested and forced to follow the Sheriff; Dead-Eye recovered his tomahawk stealing a quick drink from the leak. As the two are warrior caste and the hunters were already known as troublemakers in the village (unbeknownst to the players) they are escorted to a small encampment at the village edge.

There they are told they are to be sentenced to what is equivalent to Community Service and introduced to a strange old man, in full chain-mail and smoking an intricately carved ivory pipe named Tyvan. They are introduced to the camp, where a collection of 8 of Tyvan’s “deputies” lounge awaiting for the day they depart for their mission, to track down and if possible slay whatever is killing and partially eating some of the livestock of the local ranchers. They have many conversations around the fire drinking ale and eating meals at cost to the village over the next week or so. Over this time Tyvan has somewhat won over our adventurers though his men have yet to bond with them or each other, he’s also been trying to seduce Bers, unsuccessfully though she’s intrigued because she knows she’s ugly. They find out Tyvan is a Druidic Marshal appointed by and called in by the local druid Siamnecca as the few men who’ve gone to hunt down whatever it is have not returned. Near the end of this time Tyvan is approached by an irate short, balding man in clean somewhat fancy clothes and the Sheriff, though the intrepid two cannot hear what is being said they can guess they’re gonna have to depart fairly soon.

The very next morning they find themselves marching with the other poorly armed and dirty crew while Tyvan leads on his riding goat along the Easterly road named the East Bend walking into the treeline of the Light Wood. They were on their way to follow a lead, according to Tyvan, to a farm owned by a farmer named Mull whose livestock has been the most decimated, the most recent attack only two nights previous.

-To Be Continued…