[Session 2] Old Eight Eyes

Armed with the experiences of Session 1, we met again for Session 2.  This time, I decided to make the Prologue a little more freeform.  I set the scene and just let them play for a while.  They were able to make tests, decide what they wanted to do - you know, all the good things that are expected in an RPG.  All the while though, I was guiding them towards the actual GM Turn.

 

Prologue

Having just completed their gathering of the secret ingredient for next year’s scent border, the Patrol has come back to Wolfepoint for some much needed rest.  They are met by a small Patrol of Guard lead by Thom p.289 (with Kyle p.290, Nathaniel p.291, and Sloan p.292).  They hand Finn a mail sack and a letter from Gwendalyn.  The letter states that Thom will be taking the ingredient back to Sprucetuck, and she would like Finn’s patrol to remain on this side of the Territories, making their way to Port Sumac, Rustleaf, Frostic, and over to Cologreo and finally back through Wildseed and on to Lockhaven by Summer.  They will be delivering the mail, and helping out in any way they can along the way. 

Finn, having gone so far as to tell the tale of the Patrol’s adventures to the locals, succeeded in impressing the rough mice of Wolfepoint with the Guard’s accomplishments.  So impressed are the settlement’s mice, in fact, that they are invited to speak with king Hakon Greyfur.  The king’s guard – the Serkr – are mice that adorn themselves with the skins of predators that they have personally killed.  They fashion a cloak of animal fur similar to the Guard’s cloaks.  

Helfdane is one of the Serkr, and wears a cloak made from a Sable hide, and carries a sword.  Sven is another.  Hergr is a third.  And these three Serkr escort the Patrol to king Hakon’s court.  They are taken to a large room, with a great table in the center.  There are chairs enough for every single mouse in Wolfepoint at this table, so large is it.  In the center sits the King and his Queen Tore.  The Serkr bow and take up a seat off to the sides.  Pine nuts are brought in, as is the honeymead drink made by the Apiarists. 

King Hakon was impressed by the stories told of the Guard and would like to offer them a gift.  As is the Wolfepoint way, his gift comes with a price.  He will give them a potion that will allow them to slay an animal far above what any mouse should be able to slay.  He says this with a feral smile and a finger to his nose, but they will have to gather the potion's primary ingredient.  Should the Patrol agree, the king will explain that they will need to milk the venom of old eight eyes, the Vendal spider.  She’s black as night save for warning of red on her backside, and her poison is the deadliest of anything in the Territories.   

At this point, the Troupe began to discuss whether or not they would accept the gift.  Millicent - still Angry - is against accepting the gift.  It does not concern the Guard, nor them, and besides, they had mail to deliver.  Finn disagrees, and feels that it does concern the Guard - as the King is testing their mettle.  Finn went to great lengths to sing the Guard's praises to these isolationist mice of Wolfepointe, and here they are being given a chance to seal the deal, so to speak.  Millicent finally acquiesces and the Troupe tells the King that they will accept his gift.

At this point they are given a corked glass jar and told to meet with the Mousehold's chief Apiarist, Sphex.  But only after they have feasted!  So the troupe gets their fill of food and drink.  All of this and the conversations allows those afflicted with Angry and Tired Conditions to test to get rid of them.  Millicent and Walter (I believe) were the only mice so afflicted, and they both succeed in removing the Conditions.

After food, the King summons a glassblower mouse who brings in a corked glass jar for the troupe to use in collecting the venom.  Next the King summons Sphex the Apiarist - an oldfur that smells sweet like flowers and whose blonde fur is matted with sticky honey.  He is excited to meet the Guard, who's stories he had also heard, and is surprised to learn that Millicent too is an Apiarist.  The two of them chat as he leads them to the Apiary.

Located at the highest point of Wolfepoint, the Apiary smells of wax and honey, and the constant drone of bees greets the Patrol.  Sphex  speaks to Millicent about what he can offer to the group.  He takes her (and the rest if they follow) through a side exit, and down a long hallway, and out onto a branch high above the ground, and back into another branch.  There is another room – with a different kind of buzzing.  Yellowjackets!  Sphex calls one of the yellowjackets over and it lands on his outstretched arm.  He transfers the wasp to Millicent’s arm and explains that should the group find themselves in trouble with old eight eyes, the wasp can attack to paralyze buying the group some time to flee.

Millicent is both nervous and excited, having only ever dealt with Honey Bees before.  The yellowjacket - named Vespa - seems quite at ease with her, and soon the two have bonded.  

Getting ready to head out, Finn suggests they speak with the serkr Helfdane, as the King had mentioned that all of the serkr had done this at one point or another. A successful Circles Ob2 test later, and the Patrol catches up with Helfdane and a small hunting party just as they are leaving the settlement for an extended hunting trip.  Finn asks for some advice from the experienced huntermice, and though Helfdane seems reluctant to say too much, he does warn them that the Vendal will flee rather than fight, so be prepared for that.  Also, use caution if she has an egg sac, as she will be more aggressive then.

While this was going on, Walter was working on making some waxed paper in order to cover the jar opening, so the spider's fangs could be held while they milked her.  He succeeded with his Science test, and had half a dozen sheets of wax paper for his efforts. 

Armed with advice, the modified glass container, and a wasp, the Patrol is ready to go! 

GM Turn 

Weather Watcher

Millicent checks the weather, and fails.  The weather is Spring Rain p.138, which may call for a Health Ob3 test to most outside activities. 

Write Goals

The Players write their goals now that they know the details of the session.

Mission Obstacles

1.  Wilderness

To locate the spider, the group must rely upon their collective knowledge.  A Complex Obstacle must be passed, consisting of a Scout Ob4, Insectrist Ob4, & Health Ob3 (due to Spring rain).

1x Failure gives the Tired Condition. 

2+ Failure gives a Twist:  The spider is found, but she is an empty husk.  The whole nest is covered in spiderlings! 

The Patrol passes the Complex Obstacle and locates the Vendal spider's nest at the edge of a field, upon a small pile of moss-covered rocks.  Beneath a small overhang of rock is an intricate web, with a few insect husks littering the orb.  Just within is the spider, near to an egg sack, watching the world with eight black, unblinking eyes.  She is just over an inch in diameter, almost a third the size of the Tenderpaw.  

2. Animal

To reach the spider requires a Fight Animal Conflict.  To milk the spider requires an Insectrist Ob5.  

Conflict failure or compromise gives the Injured Condition.

Insectrist Failure gives a Twist: The spider flees as the egg sack erupts covering the whole nest with spiderlings! 

  

Having located the spider the Patrol then scouted all around the rock pile she called home.  The discovered two small bolt holes she could use to quickly escape and the set about blocking one of those up.  Then they set up a net over the other, and devised the plan that they would try and drive her into the net for capture.

(At this point, I'd forgotten that I wanted a Conflict with the spider and I had them do a simple verses test for Hunter Ob5.)

The Patrol failed the Hunter test, which ended up with the spider moving out of the nest to the front, instead of bolting back into the net.  Millicent attempted to position the glass jar in front of the spider so she would bite the wax paper - she tested against Insectrist Ob5 and failed.  The Vendal spider bolts up and over the rock pile, frightening Finn and Brand waiting on the other side by the net, fleeing her home and leaving the mice empty pawed.  Millicent thinks quick, and commands Vespa to hunt the spider and sting it - and with an angry buzz, and a successful Apiarist Ob1 test, the yellowjacket darts after the spider.

Immediately after the wasp darts off, the Patrol realizes why she fled - her egg sack erupted! 

Mission Twist

The rock pile is instantly covered with thousands of tiny, hungry spiderlings, having burst forth from their egg sack and seeking to eat everything – including the mice!  

(This was going to be a Chase Conflict with the Spiderlings Goal as ‘Paralyze a mouse’ and the Patrol's goal "Run away!".  Should they win, the Spiderlings have bitten a mouse but cannot quite paralyze it; also they will find the mouse too large to eat, and so will move on.  The mouse becomes Sick as a result.  However, we ended up with a simple verses test instead, as it was getting late.  The Mice tested their Health against the Spiderlings Nature.)

Only Finn succeeded with the test, and was uninjured.  He helped the other members of the Patrol back away from the swarm of Spiderlings and they regrouped.  Millicent had the idea to capture a couple of spiderlings as a gift for Wolfepoint - no longer would they need to seek out the Vendal spider for her venom if they were able to raise their own.  Using a sack, she and Finn - with the help of Brand - carefully herded two spiderlings into the sack.  Shortly there after, Vespa returned and kept buzzing for Millicent to follow.  The Patrol followed the yellowjacket to where the stung and paralyzed Vendal spider lay.  They quickly milked her for her venom and headed back to Wolfepoint.

End GM Turn

Player Turn

The Patrol returns to Wolfepoint.  Once back, Walter uses his Healer on each of the injured mice, including himself.  Brand is recovered, but Walter and Millicent are still injured.  

They take their hard-won bounty to the King, and Brand proceeds to tell the story of their adventure.  All are impressed!  Oleg the Seer is summoned and is given the venom to make the potion.  In return, a small block of brown, tar-like potion is given to Finn - the Ragnor potion!  It is enough for one Fight Conflict and is used by coating their weapons with it.  The Patrol thanks Oleg and the King, and then departs for the apiary.  Once there, Millicent speaks with Sphex and gives him the gift of the spiderlings.  He is thankful, and gives Vespa to Millicent in return.

After a successful Circles Ob3 test, the Patrol goes to see Oleg the Seer and he heals their injuries.  

After resting up, the Patrol is ready to begin the next leg of their Guard duty - journeying to Port Sumac to deliver the mail.

NPCs

King Hakon Grayulf
Will	5	Resources	9
Health	3	Circles	7
Nature (  Mouse  )	4	Escaping, Hiding, Climbing, Foraging
Skills:  Persuader 6, Orator 4, Fighter 5, Militarist 4, Administrator 4, Half-Truth-wise 4, Serkr-wise 3
Traits:  Determined 2, Old Fur 3, Wolf-Snout 1
Gear:  Crown, Wolf cloak, sword

Helfdane
Will	6	Resources	4
Health	3	Circles	4
Nature (  Mouse )	3	Escaping, Climbing, Foraging, Hunting
Skills:  Orator 4, Fighter 4, Militarist 4, Hunter 6, Instructor 3, Scout 3, Local-wise 4, Serkr-wise 3
Traits:  Brave 2, Stubborn 1, Wolf-Snout 3
Gear:  Sable cloak, sword, 1x Ragnar potion

Serkr
Will	3	Resources	2
Health	5	Circles	2
Nature (  Mouse )	3	Escaping, Climbing, Foraging, Hunting
Skills:  Persuader 2, Fighter 4, Hunter 5, Instructor 2, Scout 2, Local-wise 4, Serkr-wise 3  -  Pick one:  Survivalist 2, Armorer 2, Healer 2
Traits:  Brave 1, Wolf-Snout 2
Gear:  Sable cloak, sword, 1x Ragnar potion

Sphex the Apiarist
Will	5	Resources	5
Health	3	Circles	2
Nature (  Mouse  )	3	Escaping, Hiding, Climbing, Foraging
Skills:  Apiarist 5, Insectrist 4, Loremouse 3, Brewer 4, Bee-wise 4, Wasp-wise 3, Mead-wise 4
Traits:  Cautious 1, Wolf-Snout 1
Gear:  Bottle of mead, comb of honey, Yellowjacket

Oleg the Seer
Will	5	Resources	3
Health	3	Circles	1
Nature (  Mouse  )	1	Escaping, Hiding, Climbing, Foraging
Skills:  Loremouse 6, Healer 6, Alchemy 6, Strange-wise 4, Prophecy-wise 4
Traits:  Jaded 2, Old Fur 3, Wolf-Snout 1
Gear:  Staff, trinkets, potions