Dramatis personae
Anêr, swashbuckler
Kim, thief
Mayhem, barbarian
Yémos, cleric
Caleb, wizard
Kúflaug, orc slave
Quid occurrit, nullo pugnante
The gang chose to walk towards Mīstássun to sell its gear, and left Drūkûros. About an hour after leaving the village, seven men, dressed in leather and armed, came from their left, and skulked after them from afar. After a few minutes, the men took off, leaving the heroes to make it to town, though not before they foraged for a few meals.
They went to the Pantry to spend the night, and Arrūnús, the owner, was happy to see them, though his son wasn't there. It was a small crowd, but Kim made some ado as she bumped into a woman with Stahl ears, dressed for wayfaring. The woman stood up and said that Kim tried to pickpocket her, and a big man with a birthmark on his mug who was sitting with the woman stood up, and smacked Kim. Arrūnús came over and asked everyone what was the matter, and, when he found out, told everyone to watch it. Aside from the others, Arrūnús said to Yémos and Caleb that he thought Kim was indeed a pickpocket and had tried to steal from the woman.
Kim never bothered to let Arrūnús know that he was right.
The next day was the 11th of Párūs, which was a sunny day albeit with a chilly morning. Yémos went out to look for herbs, and found enough to make a healing salve to make later, when he could learn how. Mayhem took Anêr and Kúflaug fishing, and he caught enough fish for ten meals.
Kim went out to learn how to forage better, but as she made her way to the gate, a gang of four men in armor stumbled towards her. "Hey, baby" said one. "Come over here. I've got Vecna's Dong."
Kim went on her way, saying nothing, but the men followed her outside the gate. She stopped by a tree, and pulled back the branch. "What do you guys want?" she asked.
"I want the babe with the hooters!" said one of the drunk fighters (was it the same one? who cares?), and they came nearer. Kim let go of the branch, and it hit the drunk fighter in the kisser. He fell over, and his friends fell over themselves laughing. Kim went outside and learnt a bit about foraging and living off the land. (Metagame: I let John put an unspent point into Kim's Survival (Plains) at this time, since he'd been trying to come up with a good reason to get the skill.)
Caleb went looking for a library or a wizard, and asked others in town. He found out from the townsfolk that there were two in town: Dénnos, who was interested in arts and giants, and Prainêr, who knew about lost civilizations and politics. Caleb chose to go to Prainêr, a man with tattooed forearms. He brought Prainêr drawings he had made of runes in the mines, and told him of the statues of the man, the woman, and the demon. Prainêr knew that these runes were from a folk who lived before the dawn of magic, and showed Caleb a book he had which had a bit about this. The book showed men leading apes, apes leading men, and, yes, lizard men ruling men. Prainêr knew the demon was a common motif in their work (he thought they may have worshipped demons), but didn't know about the statues of the man or the woman.
That evening, the fishermen were coming back, and three scrawny dogs followed them, begging for food. Mayhem took the innards out of one of the fish, and threw them to dogs, who ate them up. Back at the Pantry, he gave the fish to Arrūnús, who gave them to his son to cook for the heroes and for themselves, and let the gang stay the night for free.
The next morning, they awoke to rain outside. After a bit of rain, Mayhem and the others went fishing again, now with Kim and Yémos, and again caught enough fish for ten meals, which they brought back to the Pantry for another meal and free night's stay. Kim tried selling the hematites, the mace, and the goblet, but only got an offer of 15 silver pennies ($60) for the lot, which she thought was low so she kept them.
Caleb went back to Prainêr, and brought with him the platinum box with the eyeball stones. Prainêr looked at the runes on the box. He couldn't read them, but showed Caleb that they matched up to some runes in what his book said might be a list of kings. Caleb looked through the book himself, and saw the man and the woman of the statues, which the book said were gods named Ἀπόλλων and Ἀθηναία, whatever those meant. It also had a drawing of the big winged lizard man on the throne, which Prainêr said the ancients called the Immortal King. He didn't know much about the Immortal King, but said at least at one time, the Immortal King was of flesh and blood. Prainêr asked to buy the box and the eyeballs, but Caleb wanted to wait, and went back to the Pantry, wisely sidestepping two hookers bickering.
The gang set out the next day, wanting to get to Mayhem's tribe before too long. The weather kept them from getting too far, and they ran into a merchant woman with an upturned nose named Lúbolē, who sold Kim a pound of soap for 8 pennies. Kim said the soap was for Mayhem and Kúflaug, though neither of them knew much about it. They made it as far as Lûtē Downs before the storm started, and ran into Gên, the woman with the long face and the lip ring to whom they had spoken a few months before. As Lûtē Downs had no tavern, Gên and her husband Šērêš, a hunter with a five-o'-clock-shadow, let the heroes spend the night.
Res aliae
There wasn't anything in the way of combat, other than Kim's failed Pickpocket roll, which led to a mandatory 1d HP damage and a reaction roll from Arrūnús. There were a few times they didn't go for combat, like when they saw the gang of scroungy guys on the road, and when Caleb didn't get in the way of the screaming whores.
We had to break because one of the players had a personal issue, so I didn't give character points yet. I do need to come up with rules for asking for lodging when there is no tavern; that will be another post in a bit.
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