Aersalus B-Team: Season 1, Session 1 – Arrival at Wolftrap

Dramatis Personae

Previously . . .

Upon waking, there’s a light snow and a biting wind in the air. It’s definitely not the worst weather for the area at least.

Underneath Wolftrap

Listens-to-Ocean
Wolftrap Harbor and Aqueducts
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 2nd hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Listens-To-Ocean managed to get some decent sleep despite there not being a roof on the burnt-out constabulary, being kept warm by the radiant heat from the boiler running heat through the flooring. Listens gets up, gets some rations to eat before looking at the other groups of settlers to see how people are settling in. There’s a group of them looking over an old map. Another group is mapping things. Another group are surveying minerals. Raito is on a forestry team as well as working with buildings and looking over potential livestock. The other aid team is looking to head around the other side of The Great Green and meet back up somewhere in the middle.

Listens becomes a right suspicious bastard looking to see if any of the settlers might be an issue as well as figuring out when and where each group is going to be in-case they need to hook up later. They’re looking to leave within the next week or two after getting some initial surveys and guides. Most of the townsfolk have mostly just been polite but keeping their distance as well.

After that, Listens moves to work on the aqueducts which are connected to a lake that is connected to a cavern that’s connected to the sea. There’s another aqueduct that comes down from the mountains and a small cistern in the dock area that’s feeding from the lake itself so there’s two backups for water for the city. They feed into different cisterns in case one gets compromised the other is still fine. The dock area below is big enough for a dozen ships, though the dock is also around 70% rotted away.

An Angry Innkeeper

Rhum
The Three Arrows Inn/Miller’s Home
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 2nd hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Rhum wakes up and does his morning ablutions before heading straight to the inn. The innkeeper is already at the door and is staring at Rhum with a flour covered rolling pin in hand. He greets her and asks for breakfast, she says she can’t serve breakfast because she was just taxed recently and therefore had to restock and raise her prices and that might be better off eating some grass. He declines and she finally lets him into the inn, there’s no one else in there at this early hour. A few minutes later, she comes back with some moldy bread, a hunk of cheese that probably shouldn’t be green, and a bowl of gruel that is so dry and solid that teeth may chip. Rhum chops the bread up to see how far into the bread the mold goes which is rather deep into the bread, he puts it into a belt pouch as the innkeeper returns with a pitcher of beer that doesn’t smell or taste too bad. He tries to soak the gruel with the beer but it remains dry and crusty. He’s eaten worse. The innkeeper is just staring at him over the counter disgusted by the sight and wishing he’d just go away.

After trying to eat. Rhum heads over and asks what he can do to be less annoyed by the fact that she was taxed. She tells him that she needs more foodstuffs. She asks if he can read and when he says yes, she gives him a piece of paper that’s basically the list of house rules. Basically don’t start fights and if you want to be drunk then do it outside. She’s genuinely impressed by how literate he is and how good he can write. She tells him she needs game meat, someone to go three miles out of town to barter for flour, and she needs more firewood since she had to sell most of her stock to pay the taxes. She gives him some pennies and a crate full of glass bottles, telling him that they’re for the miller and gives him directions. He pays for his breakfast and heads out to the miller.

On the way past, Rhum stops by Trapper letting him know that there’s a need for game meat at the innkeeper and that Rhum needs some chain so he can haul away wood when coming back from the miller. Trapper notes that his plan would result in the inn getting smoked out as he was planning on chopping down fresh trees and quartering them. Rhum acknowledges it but says that Raito had given him some pointers. Either way, Trapper says he’d be better off asking the foresters for the equipment whereupon Rhum heads over to the blacksmith rather than the foresters.

The blacksmith, Jetei iul Nestori, is a rather large man and has the features of someone from Abolethe but with far darker skin. He’s got a large hammer in his hand and is watching Rhum come up rather warily. Rhum greets the blacksmith and asks to purchase a length of chain from him along with some spikes and others before heading towards the millers.

Bucks and Berries

Trapper
Outside of Wolftrap
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 4th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Trapper, meantime, heads out to hunt. Trapper comes across a buck fighting an older male. Sneaking up on them, he takes them out at a single shot each to the vitals and then gets to bleeding and butchering them. The meat is pretty good, it’s not tainted. While they’re bleeding, he heads out to borrow a sledge when a ministry healer, Tessikai, offers to help. Since they’re tall, he accepts it. She’s got the distinct manner that they’re going on an adventure which he begrudging accepts. She excitedly talks about gathering berries so Trapper finds them a field of cloudberries. They get a large amount of cloud berries, other edible items, mushrooms, acorns on the way back.

Coming Online…

Unit 7
Wolftrap Constabulary
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 9th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Unit Seven comes to to find himself covered with a blanket, finding it a good idea to make snow removal easier. He notices several people having come in, including Raito, to put the roof back on the constabulary. Seven tries to find where magistrate is and is told that he’s down at the aqueduct clearing them and is asked to help them with some things. A quick discussion ensues and Seven is convinced to help them set up the heavy beams for the roof. It takes him longer to set them up than normal, taking him nearly 40 minutes to get all the beams set up properly. Outside, he gets to see stoneshapers doing their tricks on the exterior.

A Great Deal of Grain

Listens-to-Ocean
Wolftrap Harbor and Aqueducts
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 6th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Listens is still working with the aqueducts, cleaning out the mold and moss buildups on the walls. Over the last few hours, he’s managed to get all the moss off the walls and set onto the main pier area. He gets to witness a grain ship flying the Imperial flag coming in on the tide as they furl their sails, looking back they see the merchant, Kohana, approaching to greet the ship. He narrows his eyes at Listens before mentioning that he figured they’d need to speak at some point, which Listens agrees with.

Kohana sits down on a well-worn stump like he might have done hundreds of times before. When asked what Kohana needs, he’s told that he was told to cooperate with Listens and make sure that things are smooth, but Listens’s act of siccing the tax collector on the innkeeper just made everyone’s job harder. Kohana has some lists back at his store of towns they should be going through and a warning that snow is going to start falling soon enough. The grain ship docks and they get to watch the sailors moving around on deck. Kohana is sizing up Listens, asking seemingly random questions and informs Listens that he can order most goods, but it’ll take a few months to get what they need going. Their crystalgraph broke down a long time ago and the people that have the skills to get it going are charging an arm and a leg.

Listens says he plans on getting the airship dock back up and going. Kohana mentions that used to be priority, but that they stopped needing to do that when everything dried up. The bandits are the worse problem, coming around around every month. At least 10-20 of them at a time, though there’s at least 40 different faces. They normally come in during the new moon and they’ve got at least another week until that happens. Listens tries to feed a line about the duke being interested in getting the town set back up and going and that it’ll take plenty of effort on everyone’s part. Kohana isn’t too impressed by it or Listen’s attitude that shows he’s not familiar with the people of The Span. Still, Listens insists that Kohana look into getting some kind of government official installed, at least as a point of contact. Listens also makes sure to speak with the ship’s captain before the ship leaves, trying to listen to them and learning if they’ve noticed something like bandit camps along the coast.

Listens actually knows the captain, Junras, from the Golden Coast. A captain that’s got spirit blood flowing through him. The last time Listens saw him was in a tavern just outside the Imperial capital after his ships had gotten destroyed by leviathans. He’s an alright watersinger but a better windsinger. He tells Listens that he’s planning on heading out soon and going along the coast hitting every town when Listens asks if he’d like to make the place his last port of call as they and the Duke are planning on resurrecting the town a bit. They head into the Captain’s Quarters and sit down for a drink. They arrange for the purchase of all the grain on the ship and more exclusive use.

The Miller Told His Tale

Rhum
The Miller’s Home
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 6th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Rhum speaks with the miller who has clockwork stonemills all over his property. The miller invites Rhum in and speaks with him. Rhum offers the box of jars which is Elderberry wine. The miller is rather excited and comes back with two cups and offers some to Rhum who declines as he’s on duty at the moment. Instead he moves onto business and asks how much he’s got in grain at the moment which is 10 bags. He offers Rhum the use of his mule instead of strapping things to a tree and dragging it back. The miller also mention there’s a piece on the northernmost windmill and it’s now stuck and he can’t get to it. Rhum offers to clear out the obstruction for the miller. Rhum manages to climb up the windmill to find the obstruction and finds a giant nest of some variety. It’s not using bits of straw and grass, it’s using twigs and small branches containing a few eggshells. Rhum starts to rip the nest out, though it’s really stuck in there so it takes some time and he almost has his hand trapped when the mechanism starts moving. Rhum sets the nest aside so the miller can take a look later and then heads back to alert the miller that the job is done. In exchange, he gets some nice cold milk and is warned about the mule biting somewhat and enjoys apples, though they also give the mule gas. Rhum gives the man some coin, though the miller tries to turn it down, Rhum explains it’s to help the community in general and to perhaps get an apprentice with some joking in there, leaving the miller with a good impression.

Unfortunately, Rhum doesn’t have as good an impression with the mule who tries to bite him. Multiple times despite Rhum fighting back. They eventually come to an understanding.

Tanning Your Hide

Trapper
Outside Wolftrap/The Three Arrows Inn/Toragana’s Shop
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 11th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Trapper keeps dragging the sledge with Tessikai, shooting down birds on the way, a turkey, eventually stopped by the inn. A quick question, it’d determined that he’s at the right place. She compliments Trapper’s butcher job. She leads them down into the basement where there’s a kymetic device keeping the basement frigid, something the innkeeper’s husband bought before he passed. Tessikai starts plucking the birds and hands over other things. Trapper keeps the hides and the antlers for his use, the innkeeper suggests taking them to the tanner for trade. Trapper also asks about who has lived in town the longer, which is Old Man Palander who’s lived there for close to a hundred years or so it seems.

The tanner is a hawkish woman, Toragana, rather pale for a woman that works outside. Trapper judges that she knows what she’s doing and waits for her to acknowledge him. He points out he’s got some hides to trade and perhaps some other raw materials. Inside the shop he gets to see what animals are hunted in the area which include martens, rabbits, deer, elk, bear, even some seal leather. Trapper trades the deer skins for a large bear hide and asks about getting someone to talk to a bonecarver to bring them in to deal with the dead body as well as selling some hides in the future. Tessikai keeps running around the sledge on the way back wearing the bear hide saying that she’s a warrior and being generally excitable.

Back Together Again

Listens-to-Ocean, Rhum, Trapper, and Unit 7
Constabulary
Spiritsday, Zhven 17th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 13th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Back at the camp, Trapper informs them that he’d found an Imperial Cache last night and where they can find it. At the constabulary they find everyone has gathered and there’s now a roof on the top, though it’s just made of oiled canvas. Rhum is there after dropping off the flour and logs, helping her with chopping the lumber and getting some good cheese and bread in return. Listens asks if Trapper knows how to fix a crystograph, which is decidedly a no since he’s only good at clockwork. The tax collector comes in, visibly roughed up and bleeding from his nose complaining about how rough the locals are and asking to have Jerrah escort him.

Rhum offers to escort the taxman tomorrow to prevent more roughhousing. Rhum leads him towards the holding cell where they’re keeping the funds for safekeeping and the taxman. . . indulges himself while counting. Rhum shuts the door on the taxman who is too distracted to notice and then paints the scene of the taxman behind bars. Trapper steps over to other holding cell that’s holding the dead body and apologizes for the taxman being a neighbor and that he’s got a bonecarver coming by to take care of the body soon. The skull shifts on the body again and something falls down behind the cot which Trapper opens the door and investigates, finding a ring with Idlâtusian runes on it, similar to what they use for bonecarving, some kind of binding. He notes that there’s some activation words for it, but instead of trying anything he puts it back on the dead body. Tessikai heads brings Listens a bowl of turkey soup that’s quite delicious and a little spicy.

Aftermath

Seven starts asking Listens how Seven is supposed to provide security for him if Listens keeps leaving it behind. Listens explains that sometimes leaving him alone would sometimes be safest. Listens also informs them about the bandit raids that might be happening in about a week’s time and that they should prepare for it. Including getting Trapper to start setting up security and traps. It’s suggested that Seven start scouting out for the bandit party. Behind Rhum retires, he gives the portrait of the taxman to the innkeeper as well, which make her laugh and appreciate the work and asks that he draw her. Rhum does, a portrait of her happy behind the bar, looking at something off-drawing which she takes and kicks him out of the bar. Faintly, outside the door, Rhum can hear her choking back sobs.

After Action Report (GM)

Despite my fears, this was a good session. The players quickly got in the game when I did my recap of what had come before – something I usually foist off on one of the PCs, but for this campaign I will be doing it most of the time. There was a lot of…hmmm, “side quests” this time. Each of the players in there own way tried to make relations with the locals better using their own abilities. I got to describe the town a bit more and that was fun. I’ve been keeping good notes, but we’ll see if I need to go into deeper detail as the players might not be in Wolftrap for long as time applies within the setting. Of course, if each day ends up being a single session this entire season might play out there!

I introduced some interesting NPCs, expanded on a few others, and let the PCs decide which they wanted to interact with as is my standard approach to worldbuilding. I expanded the surrounding areas a bit and I suggested – and the players listened – to putting Unit 7 on recon to find the bandit’s base since the player will miss the first part of the session.

It was good overall and I’m going to keep running this thing until I can’t.

Other Notes

We started later on this session so one of the players (Brice) could be there more, but played nearly 5 hours and into the early morning. We paused about half way in and then got back to it.

We played this session even though I didn’t really want to because of the death of one of the players. But we did it anyways and we did it in honor of him. I can’t write anymore about that right now. But I wanted to put it here for all to see. We miss you, Christian. A lot.

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

“Home By The Sea” by Genesis

Aersalus B-Team: Season 1, Session 3 – Spirit Talks while Darkness Walks