Campaign Background

The campaign I am running takes place in a human-ruled Kingdom of Salish, set in a fertile land surrounded by a temperate rainforest. Salish has claimed and cleared a large area, but its frontiers are a dense wood protected by elves, a steep mountain range populated by more elves, barbarians, orcs, and monsters, and the rocky shore of a stormy ocean where enormous sea monsters swim. In every direction, the kingdom is threatened by dangerous wilderness populated by antagonistic forces.

Salish has an east-meets-west flavor. It is ruled by a magic-using warrior-king named Brandon. European style weapons and armor coexist with katana wielding fencers. Open homes with tatami mat covered floors house peasants ruled by nobles in great stone castles. Roadside inns serve rice and mutton and masterless warriors wander thecountryside in the wake of an enforced peace under a strong and magical dictator.  Mages conceal their power for fear of the wrath of King Brandon. Druids and clerics see to the spiritual needs of the common people and the powerful alike, competing for their souls. Sprawling temples are filled with grottoes and shrines to individual gods, and fortress-like monasteries dot the frontiers of the kingdom, where monks practice discipline and personal spiritual mastery. Nobles, forced by King Brandon to cease overt wars with one another, employ ninja assassins to spy on and kill one another or simply prevent other nobles from doing the same to them. These aristocrats entertain traveling minstrels, who increase their hosts' prestige and help cultivate the appearance of refinement in their courts, while the minstrels influence the government through their art and propaganda.

King Brandon seeks to use magic and his armies to bring about a new sort of domain, where peace and security are the norm. He is supported by the clergy, who have benefited from his suppression of wizards. He regards the monasteries warily, as sources of potential sedition. He wishes he could conquer the forests of the elves, to open more farmland, but maintains an official truce while he consolidates internal peace.

Salish engages in tentative trade with the barbarian tribes of the mountains, hoping to use culture to entice them to become part of the kingdom. The nobles nurse old feuds, while pledging fealty to Brandon. The households and fighting forces of the nobility are much reduced, released from service as the King's Peace takes hold. These warriors, advisors, and experts now wander the kingdom, seeking a new place in the world. Many find themselves at Salish's frontiers.

Session 2, Part 2

We had our second GURPS Dungeon Fantasy session on September 2. The players in attendance were Lisa (playing Sydney Swann, human swashbuckler), Phil (Finnegan Longstride, halfling cleric of the Stranger), Bonnie (Grizena, half-ogre barbarian), Caleb (Powder, wizard), Barry (Reggie, ogre monk), Kevin (Clint Carver, butcher and warrior), and Mike (Humphrey Hemmingsworth, holy warrior). Adam was unable to attend, and asked that his character, Ash, be run as an NPC.

This is the second segment of our second session. We ran pretty long, so I have broken the recap into two parts.

Recap

When the party arrives at the skull cave, they find Sydney standing at the entrance over the body of a dead orc. He is covered in blood. “I've found something,” he tells them. “There are more orcs down this way.” The party follows him into the cave.

The entrance tunnel is broad enough for three of them to walk abreast, but they assume a formation that puts the fighters at the front, while Powder hangs back. The tunnel slopes gently down to a T-intersection. Sydney turns right, leading them to a room lit by a cooking fire in the far corner. Five orcs are backlit, sharpening swords and teasing one of their number. A spit rests over the fire, with a leg of lamb nearly finished cooking. The companions stand unnoticed at the doorway for a moment, taking this in. Then, a voice from Reggie's backpack says, clearly and loudly, “kill them all.”

The room erupts in violence. Sydney leaps over the orcs, executing an acrobatic flip that lands him on the far side of the group. Humphrey and Reggie wade into battle, while Grizena and Clint move to flank the orcs. In seconds, the fight is over, with no injuries to the party.

Reggie, Humphrey, Clint and Sydney search the bodies, but see nothing of value. Grizena steps in to do the same. She begins tossing objects into a pile, punctuating each discovery with a sten look at the men. Sword... glare. Golden armband... glare. Quiver full of arrows... glare. This continues for an embarrassingly long time for the sheepish men, none of whom noticed anything worth looting, while a small pile of weapons on ornamental jewelry grows. Powder steps into the room and watches the spectacle.

When Grizena has finished demonstrating proper search techniques to the others, They notice that they have been joined by a shocked orc at the doorway. When they notice him, he turns to run away. Humphrey throws a spear, but misses. Everyone gives chase, following him down the other branch of the tunnel from the intersection.

They run into a room full of red eyes, reflecting dim light from torches set in wall sconces. Rank after rank of orcs await them, armed with spears, knives, swords, and shields. There is even less hesitation this time as they join battle.

Reggie races into a cluster of orcs and attempts to disarm those around him. Humphrey and Clint engage another cluster of orcs, lopping heads off with greatsword and cleaver respectively. Sydney lunges in to fight the biggest orc, a muscular warrior with a shield and sword. Grizena unhoods her falcon, who begins swooping through the melee plucking eyes from orcs on every pass. Powder casts a spell, shooting lightning at an orc who dodges the attack.

As the fight wears on, Sydney finds that his opponent is a very capable fighter. Although he is getting some hits in, the orc will not drop, and continues to scream and attack. Clint and Humphrey turn to help out. When they do, a couple of orcs flank Humphrey and manage to deliver some minor injuries. Humphrey turns back to deal with these attackers, as Clint is surprised to find that he cannot sever the big orc's head as easily as he is accustomed to doing.

Sydney decides to start using some finesse, employing feints and deceptive attacks to get past the orc champion's defenses. They are just bringing the big guy to his knees when Powder casts a Grease spell, which immobilizes many of the next rank of orcs. At about the same time, Reggie executes a disarm that leaves three more of the attackers stunned. Grizena embeds her axe in an orc while Peekaboo keeps snatching orc eyes and flying into the dark corners of the cave.

One of the orcs Powder dropped, trying to regain his footing, shouts out that they will surrender if they are spared. He speaks passably good Common. He demands to know why the adventurers have invaded his home, and promises to give them what they want if they will spare the rest of the orcs.

The party quickly confer. Humphrey tells the orc that they agree to accept the surrender. Apparently, Peekaboo has not been following along, and he swoops in to collect one more eye from one of the orcs that Reggie has stunned. Grizena gets the bird under control, and negotiations resume.

The orc answers the questions Humphrey poses to him. The tribe is called the Irontooth Orcs. There is another orc tribe that are the Irontooths' allies, the Fearclaw Clan. They were enemies until a tribe of goblins moved into the valley. Those goblins were soon joined by hobgoblins. The two tribes of orcs are engaged in a simmering conflict with the goblins from across the valley. There are about 12 children further back in the cave, being protected by 5 women. They will surrender the treasure they have. The orcs would like the party to leave immediately, rather than stay to rest.

Humphrey orders everyone tied up except for the orc with whom they have been speaking. This orc is ordered to fetch the treasure. He brings out the treasure, a little bit at a time. He delivers three bags of mixed coins, some cloth, a barrel of some sort of sticky liqueur, and some spices. Humphrey stops him. The party has begun to feel a bit of remorse at all the killing. “We'll take these two bags of coins, and we'll have to take your weapons. We don't want your food or sewing.”

The surviving orcs bound, the party stacks bodies and broken furniture in the tunnel leading back to the intersection. They make a camp in the room where they first fought, and set a double guard. They hope that the barrier between the large room where they leave the tied up prisoners and where they will sleep will at least give them some warning if the orcs get up to any mischief. Powder and Clint prepare to take first watch as the others settle down in the blood splattered room where a leg of lamb sits forgotten over a cooking fire.

Session 2, Part 1

We had our second GURPS Dungeon Fantasy session on September 2. The players in attendance were Lisa (playing Sydney Swann, human swashbuckler), Phil (Finnegan Longstride, halfling cleric of the Stranger), Bonnie (Grizena, half-ogre barbarian), Caleb (Powder, wizard), Barry (Reggie, ogre monk), Kevin (Clint Carver, butcher and warrior), and Mike (Humphrey Hemmingsworth, holy warrior). Adam was unable to attend, and asked that his character, Ash, be run as an NPC.

Recap

Sydney and Finn have built a fire and set up camp while Ash scouts the area. When they notice that he hasn't returned, Sydney stands and draws his blades.

Five people emerge from the woods and approach the camp. Two are unusually tall. One is a blue skinned ogre dressed in a monk's robes. Another is a half-ogre in old fashioned bronze armor plates bearing a hooded falcon. With them is a fat bald man dressed in a leather apron, an albino dressed all in purple, and finally, a holy warrior. There is a tense exchange of introductions, but upon learning Finn's name, the holy warrior smiles broadly. He has heard of Finnegan Longstride, and couldn't be happier than to join forces with him.

It seems that the holy warrior, Humphrey Hemmingsworth, is searching for demons. He is accompanied by his half-sister, Grizena (the half-ogre) and some friends, the ogre monk Reginald, Powder, a lightning-obsessed wizard, and Clint Carver, a former butcher who has hit the open road seeking adventure. There have been rumors of demonic activities along the southern frontiers, and Humphrey wants to see if there is any truth to these rumors. He intends to put any heretics he finds to the sword, and root out any evil he discovers.

Finn tells Humphrey and his companions that they will have word of a particular band of demonic cultists the next day. He describes the destruction of the town of Haven. He goes on to describe the encounter they have just had with the kappa, Maki. The groups agree to join forces. At this, Ash emerges from his vantage in the trees.

That evening, before supper, Finn does a little scouting around. He gathers edible plants and sees evidence of many small animals active in the area. When he mentions this to the others, Grizena and Ash each decide to go off hunting. Ash returns with only a squirrel. A bit later, Grizena returns, as well. Her falcon, Peekaboo, has come back with a goblin's hand. This alarms the adventurers. They decide to set double guards for the night, and do some more extensive searches in the morning while they wait for the kappa to return.

The night passes without event, with none of the guards detecting anything untoward. In the morning, the party splits up to search for the source of this goblin's hand. Reggie and Powder will accompany Ash. Humphrey and Clint will accompany Grizena. Finn and Sydney will stay at the campsite and await Maki's return.

The two search teams make their way to the area where Grizena and Peekaboo were hunting the evening before. Grizena indicates the general direction that Peekaboo flew when released. Ash's team goes that direction, while Grizena's team searches closer in.

Ash finds something that he finds compelling, and beckons Reggie and Powder to follow him, quickly. The three start moving into the woods at high speed. Ash is always up ahead, moving quietly, while Reggie and Powder follow, making somewhat more noise. Ash stops periodically to wait for his companions, while scanning the woods or examining some further clue. After a time, they come upon a campsite with an extinguished fire. After examining the site for a minute, Ash says something cryptic to Reggie and Powder, then disappears into the woods. Reggie and Powder look to one another and shrug, then attempt to follow, but cannot determine where exactly Ash has gone. As they try to find him, they are attacked by archers. A first volley from the woods misses. Reggie starts running toward the source of the arrows, and Powder prepares a Ball of Lightning to throw. The second volley helps the two identify exactly where the ambushers are hiding, and Reggie continues his charge. He is hit by a pair of arrows on his way, but shrugs off the wounds and keeps running. Powder throws his spell at the attackers, but misses.

Reggie engages four goblin archers. He attempts to disarm them all, but is at first unsuccessful. Two of the archers have dropped their bows and one starts slicing up Reggie's flank. He doesn't do much damage to the ogre's tough skin, but does draw some blood. While Powder readies another spell and closes the distance a bit, Reggie is able to disarm the goblins readying new arrows and renders one of the knife-bearing goblins unconscious. The last turns to flee, and Reggie gives chase. About this time, Powder casts Concussion, stunning everyone (including the ogre). Three goblin throats are cut, and one goblin prisoner is bound. The adventurer's notice that one of the goblins has a strip of black silk, very much like the cloth Ash wears, wrapped around his arm. Reggie gingerly carries the prisoner back to camp for questioning.

In the clearing, Grizena finds many goblin tracks. Following them leads her back to the stream. Her team returns to camp to report.

At the camp, Maki returns to tell Sydney what he has discovered. It seems that his cousins upstream witnessed the cultists crossing back across the creek. Sydney and Finn surmise that the cultists, after raiding the town of Haven, have returned home. Maki teaches Sydney how to call him when he wants Maki's help. He tells Sydney that there is a fortress nearby with a fountain fed by a spring, and that the kappas' stream is connected to this sprint, too. Sydney gives Maki the head of the squirrel that Ash killed the night before, and bids him farewell for now. Maki takes his leave.

When the party is back together, save Ash, they set about interrogating the goblin. There is a lot of contention about how to proceed, and the goblin, Greegark, is hostile and not inclined to cooperate. Reggie acts as interpreter, and injects his own thoughts on how to go about questioning the goblin, who spits and makes threats and displays an unfortunate lack of fear. Eventually, Finn decides that showing the goblin some kindness might get better results. He is rewarded by a nasty bite to his hand. Sydney had wandered away from the interrogation, disliking the argument and the goblin itself. He hears Finn cry out when he is bitten, though, and leaps back to the goblin, stabbing him and slashing his throat. Thus ends the interrogation of Greegark the goblin. The companions sever his head to leave for Maki.

The party decides that they will have better light to track the goblins if they start the next day, so they set watches once more and get some more rest. Finn's cooking has improved dramatically, and he prepares excellent meals from the rations and foraged wild vegetables.The three doubled watches pass without event, and in the morning, everyone follows the route taken by Ash, Reggie, and Powder to see if they can find the goblins or Ash or both.

The site of the ambush is much as Reggie and Powder left it. Sydney and Finn agree that the black silk that the dead goblin wears is very much like the cloth that Ash wears. There is some debate about whether Ash is in league with these goblins or whether he has been captured by them. Grizena leads the adventurers the way that the goblin ambushers had come. She tracks them to a place where a battle has been fought. There is a lot of goblin blood, as well as a single shuriken, which Powder collects.

The goblin tracks lead onward, and Grizena leads the party in pursuit. They come to a old, stone-lined road, with grass sprouting from cracks. There are muddy footprints, which most of the party feels lead to the right. Powder interprets things differently, and argues that the track indicate that at least someone went to the left. He is over ruled, and the party turns to follow the trail most of them feel the goblins took, along the road.

The road winds to the east. Over the next few hours, the terrain changes. The road borders a swamp on the south side, with a ruined monastery building just visible off the road. The terrain to the north of the road rises sharply, and eventually the road climbs into the thickly forested hills. Finn and Reggie decide that the hike would be more pleasant if they had a few drinks from Reggie's cask of beer. With Reggie pouring, Finn is soon having difficulty walking, so Reggie carries him as they finish off the barrel. As the sun drops behind them, the companions see a break in the trees on the left. There is a broad path with conspicuous goblin-like footprints. They road ahead is even more broken, with thicker weeds choking it. It seems evident that the goblins the party is pursuing left the road here.

The companions follow the trail into the woods. It leads them to a steep walled valley. Smoke rises from various places along the valley walls. To the left, they spot a cave entrance. Looking right, they see other cave entrances. The left most cave entrance is tidy , with brush cut away and swept rock. Off to the right, a cave at the level of the valley floor is bordered by neat piles of bone, scrap metal, and dung. Higher on the right valley wall opens another cave, flanked by four platforms bearing skulls and severed heads.

The party starts toward the tidy cave on their left. They hear shouting from behind yet another cave near this, at first concealed by a big pine tree. “Give it back, Bree!” shouts a loud, deep voice. “No, it is mine now!” answers another deep voice. Examination of this cave reveals that the opening is covered by a large, poorly cured hide. The mouth of the cave is surrounded by bones, bodily waste, and bits of trash.

Clint calls out to the cave entrance. “Fair maiden! Do you require rescue or assistance?” He is answered by silence from the cave and pointed stares from his companions. The others find the silence from the cave a little bit ominous.

About this time, they notice that Sydney and Finn are missing. They backtrack and discover Finn asleep on the path at the opening of the valley. Reggie opens his empty barrel and stuffs Finn inside for safe keeping. Grizena finds tracks that indicate that Sydney has gone to the cave decorated with the skulls...

Session two continues here.

Session 1

We had our first GURPS Dungeon Fantasy session on August 19. The players in attendance were Lisa (playing Sydney Swann, human swashbuckler), Phil (Finnegan Longstride, halfling cleric of the Stranger), and Adam (Ash, shadow elf ninja).

Recap

Our heroes meet in a tavern. The tavern is on fire. Little is standing except for the kitchen walls. A rain begins to fall. There are three heroes; a halfling priest named Finn, a swordsman named Sydney Swan, and a dark skinned elf in black clothes who doesn't introduce himself.

They investigate the town, called Haven, and find many bodies. The elf examines bodies, finding ample evidence that the people died violent deaths. The other two find that the tavern's larder is stocked with fresh vegetables, grain, and meat. The priest discovers two kegs of beer in the larder, and pours everyone some warm beer. He and Sydney drink, but the elf sets his down without tasting it. The rain turns to a downpour.

A shrine to the Seven Gods, a sept, stands uphill from the town. In and around it, the three find more bodies, mostly of women and children. The elf and the priest begin collecting the bodies around the shrine. Finn collects the tools and coins carried by the villagers and places them at the shrine. He says prays to put the bodies to rest. The elf also collects coins from the villagers' bodies (netting himself 40 copper farthings).

Sydney find a house with three bodies inside, only minor fire damage, and some food and dry fire wood. The elf joins him, but refuses to help remove the bodies. Sydney removes them and prepares to sleep on the deck, under the eves. The elf makes a fire and meditates. He sleeps inside, leaning against a wall with the fire pit between him and the entrance to the kitchen. At the shrine, the priest lies down to sleep among the dead, under the shelter of the sept's roof.

Sydney awakes when the rain stops, shortly before dawn. A child cries out from the edge of town for his father. Sydney intercepts the child, who is leading a rope of pigs. He asks the child where he has come from. He is told that the child was in the woods feeding the pigs. He took shelter in a cave during the night, when he heard many men pass. He remained through the storm. Sydney informs him of what has befallen the town. The child hands off his pigs and runs toward one of the ruined houses. Sydney releases the rope and chases him. The elf awakens to the voices and follows.

After searching for a bit through the rubble of the boy's home, Sydney and the boy are joined by the elf. The boy is startled, but calms when the man reassures him that the elf is not a threat to him. The swordsman and boy gather the pigs and re-rope them. Sydney takes the child to the sept to speak with the priest.

Finn comforts the boy and questions him further. They find that the angry men who frightened him the night before spoke a language the boy didn't understand. Finn leads everyone to the tavern's kitchen, where he makes a barely edible meal. The boy introduces himself as Murray. Finn settles the boy on the deck where Sydney spent the night, and Murray falls asleep.

After the meal, the elf goes to the north end of town to search for tracks. He's joined by Sydney, who suggests that the elf may be as dangerous as the raiders, if he is not in fact connected to them. The elf counters that if he sought the swordsman's death, they would never have met. They continue to menace one another for a bit and then notice very heavy footfalls from the north. The two hide in a nearby ruin and watch as the steps grow louder.

Finn hears, too, and wakes the boy. They hide beneath a neighboring house and wait.

A train of giant beasts of burden approach town. As thet come closer, Sydney and the elf see a rider on the lead beast. Sydney decides to step from cover and greet him. The elf stays hidden and watches.

The rider stops his train and comes to talk to Sydney, mistaking him for a resident at first. Sydney informs him of the massacre and leads him toward Finn. The man's name is Declay. His animals are called yeddim. He has come to buy the early summer harvest from the village. He mentions that his route includes Shayfrem (the local capitol to the north) and this village. He also mentions that intends to visit a border keep established by King Brandin, west of here. He says that he never goes as far south as Yanowarr, as the elves don't trade.

As the two make their way into town, Sydney tells him about the elf. Declay takes in the damage, and seems a bit overwhelmed by it as they walk.

Finn and the man speak as the elf joins them. Finn vouches for the elf's conduct thus far, but presses him for a name when the elf begins to question the merchant about who else Declay may have encountered. The merchant takes this in, then smiles and answers the elf cheerfully. The priest and merchant discuss what is to become of the boy. Ultimately, Declay agrees to take him on as an apprentice in exchange for the goods remaining in the town. Maurray begins to bargain with Declay with some shrewdness at this, and the two start taking an inventory.

The elf, halfling, and swordsman return to the shrine to build a pyre. Finn breaks to prepare another disappointing meal, with Sydney's less than capable assistance. Declay helps gather bodies with one of his yeddim. Finn and Sydney finally pry a name out of the elf- “you may call me Ash.” As evening darkens, the fire burns and sends black smoke into the air.

In the morning, Declay, Murray, and the yeddim have already left. The three discuss where to go in pursuit of the raiders. They decide to head east, into the mountains.

Traveling carefully along a trail through dense bamboo groves, they come over a ridge to see a clearing bounded to the east by pine trees and a stream. Cautiously, the three circle the clearing and stop at the stream to rest and drink some of the beer they have brought from town. Ash studies tracks in the mud near the bank instead of waiting for his beer, and Finn dangles his feet in the water.

Finn feels a tugging on his toe. A dented, beaked head emerges from the water near Finn. “May I have some beer, too,” it asks. Finn greets the creature politely. They exchange introductions. The creature is named Maki. He is a kappa. Tilting his head back to drink the beer, he spills the water from his head. He is paralyzed where he stands, until Sydney scoops up some water and refills the dent in his head. Maki explains his vulnerability to spilling from his sara, the dent in his head. He thanks Sydney profusely and offers his friendship, mistaking Finn for a servant. After being set straight, and warned of the lurking Ash, he helps the three cross his stream. He tells them that the stream contains many kappa, his cousins. He tells them of the cult of Surse, which crossed downstream a couple of days ago, and how they often ford the kappas' stream. The kappas catch and eat the cultists when they can, but cannot fight them successfully when there are many together. Maki doesn't know where the cultists have gone, but he heads up stream to ask his cousins.

Maki's friends, Ash, Sydney, and Finn make camp at the stream bank to await Maki's return. Ash carefully explores the immediate area while Sydney rests at the water's edge, and Finn starts to experiment further with cooking.