So, here's the actual play report of the second session.
Actual Play
Still Traveling to Riverton
Tuesday morning, May 5th, we set off for Riverton, with the wounded Bartha
travelling on one of the wagons.
Finally in Riverton
We finally reached the outskirts of Riverton in the late afternoon,
and realized we had no idea where to deliver the stone. We knew it
must be a warehouse down near the docks, but weren't sure which one.
We stopped a few passersby and asked directions and for a surgeon.
Eventually we determined that Grian's Warehouse was where we needed to
go, and that Sawbones Colmün (or was that Cölmun?) was the doctor in
our price range, and that we needed to get there before he started
drinking for the night.
Taking Care of McVoy's Business
We needed to take care of our obligations to McVoy first and get the
wagons safely into the livery stables for the night, so we headed out
to Grian's. We got there just as the Grian was locking up, and he was
quite upset about how late we'd arrived, since all his workers had
already left for the day, but after seeing our injured Bartha he
allowed we could unload, if we'd do it ourselves and be quick. We did
and were (and I think Grian even pitched in, as well), and finished in
good time. Unfortunately, this left us all fatigued. We said goodbye
to Grian, who seemed in a good mood at the end, and set off for the
sawbones.
Bartha gets Wasted at the Sawbones
Arriving at Sawbones Colmán's, it turned out he was a butcher with a
side trade in surgery, but the price was right. Onchu and Eirnin took
the wagons to the livery stable (Bran McVoy, as you'd expect from that
cheapskate, used the cheapest livery stable in town, even though it
was on the far side of town from Grian's.)
Bartha paid for the surgery, but wasn't going to pay for the whiskey
to make it easier, so Droston did, insisting this wasn't for her, it
was for him, so she'd let him pay. He wanted her to be well
anesthetized while the sawbones did his cutting. After a few pulls
off the jug she was feeling no pain, and got through the surgery
well. Sawbones said she'd have an ugly scar, but she'd do alright, as
long as she kept off that leg.
Wolves! No, just a Kid and a Dog
On the way back from the livery stable Onchu and Eirnin heard a howling
approaching them, which after their wolf experience the day before set
them on edge, but it was just a dog being chased by a kid. (Or was it
the other way around?)
Supper, with Violence
Once Onchu and Eirnin were back, we set off, two of us carrying Bartha
between us. Droston's intended kindness towards Bartha backfired: it
turns out that Bartha is a noisy, friendly, curious drunk, and in
the dock area after nightfall friendly women attract rather too much
attention. When we tried to get supper at a tavern three thugs
thought Bartha would have more fun with them, and the inevitable bar
fight ensued; things were not helped by Bartha throwing soup over the
combatants and mostly hitting Droston. The thugs were eventually
driven off, to their surprise, but Droston lost his temper when the
barkeep demanded we pay the damages, and told him off. Onchu, no
stranger to bar fights, knew when to leave, and took Bartha with him
over his shoulder, followed by Eirnin, but Droston, not so savvy, got
shot twice by the bartender with a crossbow. Luckily, both shots were
just minor flesh wounds, and Droston left, with the barkeep yelling
after them.
Sleep at last
We left the area quickly, and eventually found a quiet dockside inn,
the “Wharf Rat”; luckily Bartha had moved on to being a quiet drunk
by that time, and although the innkeep warned them all he had was a
common room and he couldn't answer for Bartha's safety there, we told
him we'd have no problems keeping her safe. We put Bartha against the
wall and crowded around her, and one of us was wake at all times,
weapon nearby, during the night.
Headed Back, Part 1
In the morning Bartha had the expected unpleasant aftermath. After we
got her moving, we went back to the livery stable on the far side of
town got the wagons and horses and headed back through town. This
time we avoided the docks and went through the good part of town, a
much nicer trip. That night we stayed at the camp spot, but had a
better arrangement of fires and wagons, in hopes of avoiding more
canine entanglements, and luckily had an easy night.
Headed Back, Part 2
The next day, however, while Droston was ranging ahead, just past
halfway, he heard animals coming towards the wagons, and was able to
warn the drivers. It turned out to be a couple of deer chased by a
mountain lion. Thanks to the warning and their own efforts the
drivers were able to keep the horses and wagons under control. For a
few seconds it looked like Bartha was going to send a sling bullet the
mountain lion's way, but she was still recovering from her wound and
hard time in Riverton and decided against it, preventing Droston from
having a heart attack, imaging what her dad would have said.
(“What?!? You let Bartha get bit by a wolf!?!?!? What, you let
Bartha attack a mountain lion and get mauled?!?!?!?”)
Just outside the village we heard faint laughter and saw a coin purse
hanging in tree. Droston though it was probably the murderer from
Riverton trying to ambush people, and argued intently against Bartha
trying to get it.
Back in Masonburg
We turned the wagons and horses over to McVoy, who paid out as agreed.
We told McVoy about the purse, in an attempt to warn him and the
villagers about the possible ambush, but found him touched more by
greed at the thought than caution. Bartha proceeded to try to wind
McVoy up, but he just looked at her in disgust and left.
Jed, Bartha's dad, was not happy at all about the shape Bartha was in
when we brought her back, and told her she wasn't to leave her bed
until she'd healed. We told him about the hanging purse too, and he
was wistfully tempted by the thought of the money.
(Later we learned that Jed had gone down to look for the purse, and
found McVoy already there, no purse, and McVoy already half convinced
we'd been playing a trick on him, until Jed turned up. And when Jed
got back, he chastised Bartha for trying to wind McVoy up.)
Bad News for Droston
When Droston checked with his family after dropping off Bartha, his
dad had a sour look for him at what little Droston told him of their
adventures going to town, and some really bad news about his cousin,
Brocc. Deputy Han found Brocc, Droston's cousin, who had been overdue a
day coming back from the high pastures, treed by two wolves. Brocc had
been attacked by 15 wolves several days ago, and while he had killed
two of them with his staff, some of them injured him and drove him up
the tree and stayed there threatening him while the others went
kill-mad and killed many of his fifty sheep and drove the others off.
Two of the wolves stayed there for several days until Deputy Han came
and drove them off and took Brocc, in pretty bad shape, back to town,
where he was bedfast still. Droston went over to him and got Broc to
tell him want happened, and it seemed very unusual and upsetting.
That day Droston and Eirnin searched the local area and found two of
the missing sheep, out of fifty in Brocc's herd originally.
Back to Work
The next day Onchu and Eirnin had to go back to work. Droston spent
the day hunting extra to give to Brocc.
No Rest on the Weekend
By the weekend Bartha was healed enough she could walk without any
problems, and Droston asked if his friends could help him try to find
some more of Brocc's sheep. They agreed, and we all headed out for the
alpine pastures,
[My notes here say: “Sat Morn: 3 dead sheep”; I presume this means we
found 3 dead sheep on our way up to the pastures.]
While we were still on the road we came across another purse, lying in
the road. Bartha could not be gainsaid, and went for the purse, but
the purse disappeared when Bartha grabbed at it, leaving behind a very
elaborate but harmless trap, which exploded a red berry dye over the
side of Bartha's face, and we heard more laughter. After making sure
Bartha wasn't injured, Droston scouted the surrounding woods, but
found no tracks.
We arrived at the 1st alpine meadow late in the afternoon and found
approximately 20 dead sheep. We set up camp against a huge rock at
the far side of the meadow, away from the dead sheep, and found lots
of firewood so we could have a large, large fire to keep away the
wolves, if they came back.
Eirnin Hears a — Who?
During the night while on guard Eirnin heard little wings
behind his head and a voice told him that there was a very bad man 20
yards thataway. Eirnin immediately woke everybody up, and he could
hear one humanoid running away.
Mini-arrows and Murderers
The next day we searched during the early part of the day, and found 3
more sheep, including 1 pregnant, all scared and thirsting. We left
in good time to make it back to the village before dark. Along the
way down we came across a man, who matched the description of Roy, the
murderer from Riverton, face down in the road with a tiny arrow in his
neck, unconscious. The arrow, when removed, proved not to have
injured him much, and there was no sign of injuries to explain the
unconsciousness. We carefully tied him up and took him in to town,
where we explained how we found him. The mayor told us to work near
town for a few days until someone came from Riverton to take him back
to face his unhappy fate.
Sheriff Artair came to pick up Roy and paid us 10 s.p. total as a
reward, which we divided evenly, 2.5 s.p. each.
Droston in Trouble Again
The Sheriff took Droston off and spoke to him about events in
Riverton, and Droston admitted he'd learned his lesson there.
We ended Thursday night, May 14th.