Butchern

So, it looks like everyone is interested in getting down into the mine first thing. Great. We'll let the system handle this without much hand-waving.

You are trying to Create the Advantage "Down into the Mine." I'll set the Difficulty there at +8. It's a deep hole, and a dangerous track. It will be a Crafts roll most likely. Right now, everyone is Creating other Advantages that can be invoked by whoever is going to make the final Down into the Mine roll when the time comes.

-Gert is looking for signs of equipment (Notice?).

-Celeg is looking for signs of magic or clues as to how the mine entrance was made (Lore?).

-Aron has tossed in a torch (I gave you that Aspect - "A Tossed Torch" - without a roll but no free invoke on it), and can now do something else if you like.

So, if you have already posted what you are doing to help get down into the mine, make your rolls. If you need to post first, do so. Then we'll proceed from there. I'm open to anything that is creative and generally fits with the kind of game we have so far.

The keep's long walls ran roughly north to south. It's short walls ran east to west.

On the north end of the keep a large crumbling edifice cast a long shadow across the courtyard. The edifice had, years ago, been the entrance to the keep. It was now an impassable mound of stone and fallen trees. Some great force had collapsed the entrance and the trees around it.

On the south end of the keep a large stone fort sat atop the wall. A snow-covered stone stairwell descended from the fort down to the center of the courtyard.

A wide walkway ran around the tops of the walls, and gently curving curtain walls formed the north and south ends of the courtyard. There were windows in those walls indicating that round tower-like walls at the north and south end had interior spaces behind them, though it was not obvious how those spaces might be accessed.

In the center of the courtyard sat a massive hole. It was almost perfectly round and dark. From their perch atop the wall, the heroes could not see the bottom of the hole, nor could they see any obvious way to descend into the mine, if this was, indeed, the mine.

The wind was biting and the snow continued to fall, but the heroes followed the directions to the keep with little difficulty.

They followed the edge of the valley around to the east. Though the trail was covered with snow, they could still make it out, and it was passable. It took some searching to the north, but they quickly found the stone bridge that crossed the frozen creek. Beyond the creek, the road headed east for about five miles to the river.

At the river, they found a small boat buried in the snow. It took several minutes to dig out the boat. The river crossing was cold and wet and miserable, but they made it. The keep was exactly where they expected to find it, about a mile further east from the river. It sat in a wedge between two arms of the forest and rose up between the trees like an ancient sentry.

The keep looked dark, formidable, and abandoned, but torches still burned all across its walls.

Easy pass.

I've updated the Fate Tracking Thread with the new Aspects. Both Seresse and Celeg were successful. Celeg succeeded with style.

Celeg tied on his Physique roll (meaning I get a Boost against him). Gert and Aron passed. Still waiting on Seresse's roll.

Celeg, let me know if you plan on using one of the free invokes on A Horse Forged Path to make that tie a success.
 

Here is where we stand now:
 

Day 2 - The Keep

Scene Aspects:
Scene Aspects can always be invoked with a Fate Point by anyone.

Northern Wilderness, Winter Blizzard

Situation Aspects:
Situation Aspects are created by players or the GM and stick around as long as they have a fictional justification to do so. Anyone can invoke a Situation Aspect by spending a Fate Point. Situation Aspects with free invokes on them can only be invoked by their creator or with their creator's permission.

A Bag Full of Imperial Coin (Gert) [ ]
Snow Blindness (on Gert) [ ]
A Horse Forged Path (Celeg) [X] [ ]
Fire Magic (Seresse) [ ]
A Tossed Torch (Aron)
Abandoned Equipment (Gert) [X] [X]
A Few Good Handholds (Celeg, Boost)

GM Fate Points:

Olive stopped moving forward and narrowed her eyes.

"If you are going to stab me in the back, girl, you better make it count. You'll only get the one shot."

@Caystodd @SirLoganofGilead, make those Physique rolls. I'll update tomorrow.

I think both Creates are great ideas. It will delay your arrive at the keep, but not by more than an hour.

@matt_s, I think you have it right. If you are going to make snow shoes for yourself or others, that is Craft. If you are using the horse to plow a trail for the others, Ride works. FYI, I'm not rolling for the opposition. Just setting it at +0. So right now you have a tie on the Defend, giving me a Boost. I'll probably make it something like Low Visibility that will go away if I don't use it by the time you reach the keep.

@Blue Firebird, I like it. Fire Magic would be Lore, I think.

Y'all can both roll vs. +0 to Create an Advantage which you can others can use if needed to improve the Physique roll vs. the cold.

I posted everyone setting out. If there's anything you'd like to have happen along the way, now's the time to make your requests. Also, make a traveling in the lightly but steadily blowing snow post.

Also also, let's get some rolls to stave off the cold. The blizzard is trying to create the advantage Frozen to the Bone against you with a +0. Roll Physique to resist. If you have another skill to substitute and can justify it, let me know. I'm open to the idea.

The heroes dropped off their supplies, got what they needed, said their goodbyes, and headed out to the keep. The Sheriff and company went straight back to the safety of the valley after pointing the heroes in the right direction.

"Just follow the edge of the valley around to the east. The trail is covered with snow, but you'll be able to make it out. Pick up the road at the stone bridge. It crosses a small creek that is likely frozen, but you'll see it clear enough. If you find yourself heading south again, it means you've missed it. The road heads east for about five miles to a small dock. You'll need to take one of the boats across the river. The mine is about a mile further east. It sits in a wedge between two arms of the forest. Head east and stay out of the woods and you'll be standing at the keep. Whole thing should take you about two hours in this weather."

And off they went.

After eating a hearty breakfast and dressing for the cold, the heroes departed the inn, into the snow, and began the long climb up the valley to where the rest of the caravan had dug in against the blizzard. Darin and Linnell decided to stay at the inn, presumably where it was warm and safe, but the heroes were joined by Reder the sheriff and Henry from the watch with some provision from the town.

Outside the wind was blowing briskly and there was a light snowfall in the valley. The heroes could see from the dark clouds all around them that the blizzard sill raged outside the valley.

Reder knew the easy path out of the valley, and as they ascended the snowfall increased dramatically. Once they had reached the lip of the valley, the caravaners took over the lead and brought them all to the caravan.

The wagons had been pulled into a tight circle, and a makeshift shelter of skins and furs had been built in the center to keep the snow off the fire. The horses crowded around the fire for warmth, and the people of the caravan had dug out small caves in the snow, beneath the wagons to sleep in.

The caravaners who stayed behind in the snow were all accounted for and in good health. They appeared to be enjoying the days off from their hard labor. Reder gave over the provisions and offered to lead them into town. But, since there was no way to get the wagons down into the valley in the storm, the caravaners (who were being paid to watch the wagons) opted to stay and wait out the storm.

"A few more days of laying about and napping while getting paid? I've had worse!" seemed to be the general sentiment.

I finished "Mariana in June" this morning. I feel good getting it out, but I think it needs to be substantially rewritten. I'm going to start on "Slab" first though.

"Hang in there, girl. We are almost out."

The girls was getting heavy, but Olive was strong and not ready to give up yet.

Everyone, I posted a brief description of your room. You can post yourself to sleep and then up again in the morning. My next post will be the following morning.

@Caystodd, there is a lot in my post that happened to you without your reaction, because I didn't want to hold up the game with us going back and forth. We have plenty of time to play this out, so no worries there. And plenty of changes for you to earn Fate Points with this. 😁

The modest bedrooms in the Blizzard were simple, yet they exuded a welcoming charm. The rooms all featured a basic, well-worn wooden bed with a plain canopy. The bed was dressed in practical linens. A small shuttered window was the only decoration adorning the wooden walls. In some of the rooms a writing desk sat beneath the window, accompanied by a functional wooden chair. In other rooms the desk was replaced with a more comfortable chair and footstool. The floors of the rooms were covered with timeworn and often repaired woven rugs. A modest fireplace provided the rooms with both warmth and light. On the nightstand beside the bed two candle holders with brass snuff was set out, but the candles were not lit.
 

1 hour ago, Caystodd said:

As soon as they were inside the room, Gert tried to snatch the kerchief off Clara's head. "I knew it!" she blurted out, before even seeing what was under the Kerchief.

Clara froze as the kerchief came off. Her dark hair was cropped short, not quite touching her shoulders, and two small rounded horns grew out of her head on either side. The nubs protruded through her hair just a few inches. The back of her neck was covered in dark spots. She was a devil spawn, no question.

Before Gert could react, Clara rushed forward and kissed Gert on the lips. It was just a little peck; their lips barely touched, but Gert felt her body go rigid. She was frozen. She couldn't move, she couldn't even blink. Clara looked at Gert and then to the door behind her. The girl looked ashamed of what she'd just done. But then resolve came over her face.

Clara stalked back to the door and quietly shut it. She retrieved her kerchief from Gert's frozen fingers and tied it back around her hair. With a great deal of huffing and puffing, Clara dragged Gert's rigid body over to the bed and pushed her down onto it.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? You are going to get me found out, and that will get me killed . . . or worse. You made me do this. I didn't want to."

Clara lifted Gert's feet and pushed them onto the bed as well. Then she climbed up beside Gert and straddled her on the bed so that her face was directly over Gert's. She pulled on the bottom of Gert's jaw hard, so her mouth came open. And then Clara slowly let a long string of spit fall from her mouth into Gert's. The saliva burned in Gert's mouth, and it tasted like sulfur.

"I didn't want to do this," she repeated. "But now you have to do whatever I say, and this is what I say: Do not tell anyone what you saw in here tonight. Ever. If you let this go, pretend this never happened, and leave me alone, I will leave you alone. And I won't make you do anything horrible to yourself. Now sleep."

Gert immediately fell asleep and didn't wake until morning.

"Up you go," Olive said as she stooped down to offer to carry the girl on her back. She looked over her shoulder. "You can ride or you can walk, but if you can't keep up, I'll carry you."

I finished the horror short yesterday and hated it. This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and removed all the supernatural elements from the story. Now it is a sad story of an unhinged woman who murders an illegal immigrant who might have been a criminal. It's very disturbing. I kinda love it. Which doesn't mean its good

Okay, make your way up to bed.

Does anyone have anything they want to do other than pass the night?

Also, tomorrow morning, do you want to make a quick trip out to check on the caravan and then head up to the mine? I hear the weather is going to be passable tomorrow. :D

Then back home for dinner and dancing?

7 hours ago, Blue Firebird said:

"Will Rufus say more of this?" she asks him in a low voice, as if shy. "I would pay him for his time. I love to explore such curiosities. Often, the truth of the fantastical lies in the telling."

"I don't think so. He's been dead for more than a year," Tore said.

The group talked for another hour about Pelor's Rest traditions. Many of the traditions the caravaners had grown up with were practiced in some form or other in Redbark. The Second Day tradition in Redbark was a ceremonial meal eaten by courses from house to house to house among friends, families, and neighbors. There was apparently a lot of showing off of cooking skills and family recipes involved in these meals, and the night ended in barn dances in several of the largest barns in town. It was a popular night to propose marriage.

With the snow piling up outside, the common room began to thin quickly as people made for home in the dark.

"Your rooms are ready when you are," Tore said. He was already beginning to clean tables and glasses. "Bar's open as long as yer drinkin'," he added, but it was clear that soon the caravaners would be the only ones in the common room.

With your studies you can confirm that giants do live in these parts, or did, and giants live a very long time, so the giant story is very likely true. You don't remember anything specific about these dwarves or this mine, but everything he's said sounds right, especially the use of questionable magic to mine. There are many stories about Dwarves doing that exact thing.

2 hours ago, ahanna12345 said:

• Decision-Making: Dice and ChatGPT will puppet the NPCs. I'll keep an eye on the strings for a world that makes sense.

Love it! I am running a Fate fantasy game right now where were are more or less doing just this. So far, so good. I don't have time to play in another game (and I suck with Pathfinder), but I'll be watching this with interest to see how it turns out.

So, here's a painful exercise for all aspiring writers:

Open up a ChatGPT session and post a large swath of your writing with a prompt like: "Rewrite this fictional scene using plain language in half the words."

You likely won't like the way the writing sounds, but it will show you just how many words you waste on imprecise, self-indulgent drivel.

Your mileage may vary of course. 😁

Olive plopped the girl down in the middle of the elevator and readied her bow once again.

On 12/29/2023 at 10:33 AM, matt_s said:

If none object, I will work the mechanism on this elevator and begin to bring us to the surface.

"Do it," Olive said as she scanned the darkness behind them for approaching enemies.