Date At Start Of Game: 06/01/206

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 6th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

Exploring The Bellies Cave Complex

As the adventure opens the PC watch as the deadly shadow worm mauls the last of the summoned shadow praying mantis’ and heads for Narduhl. Right as the worm attacks Narduhl essentially vanishes in his cloak. Apparently he has shrunk down to a tiny size. The shadow worm continues to maul the cloak as the PC and remaining Bellies stare on in disbelief. Carefully Oren pulls the cloak out from the worm and finds the acorn from Great Oak. He notices that one side of the acorn is scraped. He does not find the remaining bit on Narduhl’s cloak.

Eventually Po orders the shadow worm to stop. It then ceases trying to attack the cloak. The PC then wake the shaman who they know speaks Ape Man and begin to converse with him. Even though the Belly shaman appears to consider Narduhl a powerful figure the PC convince him that it is in the interest of his clan to make peace with Rock Ridge. If they do not the scouts at the wilderness settlement will literally eradicate them entirely. Before leaving the cave complex the PC take the helmet from the chief and a journal that Narduhl left behind. Bishop determines that the helmet grants the user strength and accuracy at the penalty of potentially becoming enranged. The journal will take more study. The PC take the shaman to speak with Iocane then the rest of the camp. The PC leave the camp with at least some hope that hostilities will be ended.

Po uses the stick and finds a wash of chaos to the north. Even though the stick is pointing north the PC decide it best to deliver the acorn to Gray Pine for safe keeping. During the trip Po examine Narduhl’s journey. It describes the last 6 months. Some of the data is related to bugs. This information includes data on how to produce large bugs, how the Bellies can fit the large bug carapaces into armor, and concepts on the beetle gland weapons. Personal writings reveal that Narduhl is driven to destroy Rock Ridge for what they did to him. It also reveals advice from someone known as the Dark Lord or Dark Prophet that has instructed him to plan his revenge carefully by first building power. Journal entries are also present regarding the acorn. Early entries show his progress on tracking the acorn after reading about it in General Buck’s journal. Next entries describe experiments with a potion that he hopes will help prolong his life. Finally there are entries where Narduhl writes about delivering the rest of the acorn to one of the Dark Lord’s associates in Ambrosia Trades, a trading settlement to the north.

Epic Tale #4 - Blackfly Kin In My Chardonnay

Delivering The Acorn To Gray Pine

After the short journey to the Azure Expanse the PC again enter the sacred grove of pine trees that is the home of Gray Pine. The PC explain that they have retrieved the acorn from Great Oak. To their surprise Gray Pine takes the information with a slight feeling of sadness. He explains that if planted the acorn will almost assuredly grow into the next Great Tree. When that happens his time in the sun will be over. Gray Pine also explains that as the liberator and saviors of the acorn the location where the acorn should be planted is up to the PC. He stresses that the location of the next Great Tree must be done carefully with though of protection in mind.

Next the PC ask about about the Dark Lord. Gray Pine explains that the Dark Lord is something he has not heard uttered in a very long time. The Dark Lord is not as much as a person as an “idea”. He explains that in the past when kin were evolving their knowledge of spirits was primative. They often grouped spirits into things that they observed then worshipped them as pagan gods. The Dark lord was the embodiment of fire, decay, carrion, suffering, and vengeance.

With that Po flies into the branches of Gray Pine to conceal the acorn. When he does so he notices an open cut on a large branch. From the branch a black wet sap is leaking. When Po asks Gray Pine about the wound he says that long ago he was tainted by minions of the Dark Lord. The wound is deep and will not heal by normal means. Gray Pine feels he will live at most another 20 to 30 years. Po takes some of the sap and tells Gray Pine that he will search for a cure.

Ambrosia Trades And Travelling To Points North

After several days of travelling north Po detects two currents from the stick. One light stream leads to the west while a stronger current still comes from the north. The PC decide to continue north to Ambrosia Trades. Outside of the city they see a merchant caravan lead by Byron Billingson, the merchant who owns the Great Tree necklace that Cillian stole. He mentions that pelt traffic is low due to a slow winter but the PC guess there might be more at work.

Ambrosia Trade is a small company settlement run by a man know as Darston. It has a nice inn and a main sunken Great Hall that is used by traders to conduct business. After staying at the inn for a night the PC poke around and discover that the latest caravan from Longwinter, a tiny settlement and native village to the north, is over 3 weeks late. Darston has supposedly sent a party to investigate but they have also not returned. The PC stock up on cold weather gear then head north towards Longwinter.

The Village Of Longwinter

The storm ebbs and flows as the PC advance north but they are able to avoid most effects of the cold by using their survival skills. When they reach Longwinter they find a battle going on! Members of a tribe of White Owl kin seem to be attacking a tiny wilderness fort manned by Ape Men and Wolf Kin. As the PC approach they notice that the White Owl kin appear to be enraged and sick as feathers are falling off when they move. Po approaches the fort from the air and is accosted by one of the Ape Men. The man tells Po not to land if he has been travelling in the area for they do not want to become sick. As the While Owls near the PC decide that they better get involved…

Date At End Of Game: 06/26/206

Originally published at Deadly Fredly. You can comment here or there.

Time to start blogging again!

After I discovered Twitter, my blogging in general largely fell by the wayside. Really, I think that’s something that’s good about Twitter, when it comes down to it: like a magnet, it draws away much of the content that really had no business being a blog post in the first place. But I digress.

I’ve been watching with admiration as a few of my friends — I’m thinking of Rob Donoghue in paticular — have taken up the habits of deliberate, daily posting. I’m not sure yet if that’s the thing I’m looking to do here, at least not that “aggressively”.  I can’t switch over to a new mode where my blogging becomes as much of a time-demand as the stuff I’m getting paid to do.  But all the same, given how well it’s been working for Rob, something in the same ballpark will work as an initial goal.

Part of the trick I think is that while blogging is suitable to content too big for twitter, that doesn’t mean it should rise up and demand incredibly lengthy posting.  Or as Rob quite nicely put it:

… the big lesson has been that I need to write less. Not less often, but rather, shorter material.

So that’s going to be my initial aim here at Deadly Fredly.  Short subjects, quick snapshots of thought, done as regularly as I can manage. Once I’ve done enough of these that I can get a grip on how often is reasonable (twice a week? three times? once a day Monday to Friday? the daily insanity of my good friends?), I’ll turn that particular emergent property into a policy of practice.

Baby steps, for now. Stay tuned.