It's not so long a trip as it is a cold one to the monastery in the mountain pass north of Trenova. The Sisters Gate is tended to by a sect of militant monks led by Sir Cedric and a coven of Sisters of Rora, the Mother of Mercies. They are welcoming and kind, provided you don't track mud onto their floors.
The small settlement is abuzz with the recent arrival and activities of an adventuring party, come north to aid the Sisters against the wicked critters of the wilderness. That aid was needed quickly, with a raiding party of Gwerian bandits driven off and a camp of ogres defeated before they could launch their own strikes at the soft targets of the surrounding farmhouses. But these battles were not without cost, several of the party's members falling in the fighting. The smell of their pyres still lingers in the air, the most recent bearing the warrior Davos who was felled by ogres in a heroic stand to prevent the beasts from raiding the nearby farms.
The leader of The Sundowners, as the band is known, is a Madran sorcerer named Nicanor. It appears their roster has had some turnover but they sit on a pile of ogre skulls and the spoils to go with them. After a few drinks, Arnth and Julius, the Sundowners' fighting men, share the tales of the party's origins in Vinovia and travels northward through brutal cold and frost giant ambushes, apparently learning of these things second hand as the brutal life of adventuring claimed their previous members one by one. The crusader of Jash, Flavius, rounds out the group and keeps to himself mostly, with his hunting hound "Dog" or "Hound" or "Hey you." I'm not entirely certain.
The Madran is a serious sort, studious and lamenting the loss of so many so recently, but the rest of the band's spirits are high. Warriors know to appreciate their victories as there's another battle just around the corner.
Dante of Vinovia
21st of Quickening, 28th Year of King Decius' Reign - The Sisters' Gate
Musings:
This is an ACKS II pbp game run by Arbrethil of Lord Eros Tyring fame in Oberholt. He is an expert in regards to ACKS and it's a pleasure to see him run the thing. We've had a bit of a stuttering start to the game, with the vagaries of pbp, holidays, and the like causing some hiccups.
Our first party delved the dungeon in the city we started in and was lost to a TPK. Reviewing our actions there led us to the consensus that we needed to be more decisive. We rerolled and folks wanted to hit the road after some hook about goblins to the north. I raised the concern that wilderness travel at low levels is risky but agreed to give it a shot.
A random encounter during watch cost us one warrior to charm magic. We tried to track him down and he nearly killed another of us so we let him go. He was effectively lost as a PC. Another random encounter cost us our first sorcerer. Then frost giants ambushed us and our explorer attempted to delay them so we could escape. We did escape but he was killed in the process. We finally made it and hit the dungeon with a few rerolls, only to run up against bandits on the way back raiding the monastery. We intervened with a little success, but lost another PC. Then the ogres and another lost PC after a conversation about risk/reward. We were pretty split on the wisdom of the fight but man, if we won it could be a real score.
It's been a deadly journey but who's to say we'd be doing any better in the initial dungeon? For my part as a player I enjoy pbp but sometimes the pacing feels slow. Fortunately it can be gotten to whenever and I've got plenty to do in the meantime.
We've got a target dungeon or lair to investigate, we just keep hitting snags in the offing. Maybe this next delve will be the one that produces some real momentum.
No comments:
Post a Comment