Cassandra Tale (Heyday 22nd, AxDull Destroyed, Heyday 28th Farhold forces arrive, Heyday 29th through 32nd, heavy fighting, Heyday 34th, Mical returns home victorious
Cassandra grew up in the village of Axdull, which was razed by orcs. It’s lord slain, it’s people scattered, fields burned and left a forgotten ruin by the Baron.
Q: Was Cassandra married? Likely Exceptional Yes Q: All known dead? Very Likely Yes Q: Did the lord die defending the village? Likely Yes
(So she is 27 years old, was married with three children, all three are dead. She saw them killed when Axdull was razed. She was struck in the head, and left for dead by orc raiders as they tore Harald, her two year old son, from her arms. Waking in the smoldering ruins of the village, she crawled away to the nearby woodyard, and collapsed. Awakening again a day later, scavenging for whatever she could find, and then wandering east towards civilization.)
Scene 1: A Bitter Afternoon-Heyday 23rd-Interupt, move towards thread, bury dead, People Observe
Chaos Factor: 5
-Pleasant, light rain in the afternoon, good steady wind-
-Immersion-Ask myself a question-
I wake up as rain spatters against my face, having drifted in and out of what seemed like a nightmare all night. My head hurts, and I realize…it was no nightmare, “Freia, watch over us,” I mutter as I slowly sit up, getting my bearings. “By the goddess, what has become of us?” I mutter, looking around. Then I see them. Harald, his body broken a few feet away. And I remember Marten, swinging a hatchet at an orc trying to carry Sylvia away. He was cut down defending his sister. Then she was cut down with the same blade, still wet with her brother’s blood.
I sit in the mud, rocking back and forth in shock. Weeping, “How is it that I live? Why not take me as well?”
“Cassandra! Get up!” I spot old Archibold with a shovel in hand, breathing heavily. “I could have sworn you were dead too!”
“Aren’t I? My children? My husband?” I lament.
“What of it? The goddess does not care, and her brother delights in destruction. Fate and Fortune still dance across the sky, and you and I still draw breath. So get up, and help me bury the dead!” the old man commands as he walks over and thrusts his shovel into my hands. His breathing is heavy, and his calloused hands are as blistered as a child on their first day with a sickle. I look beyond him, and I see that he must have been digging for hours.
Q: Does he cry too? Likely Yes Q: Do I find a second shovel? Very Likely Yes
I cannot hold back tears as I through my arms around him, and we both weep. After a few minutes, he pushes me back and wipes away the tears, “Let’s finish what has been ruined.” I nod, and look around for a second shovel and soon, we are widening the hole he has done to use as a mass grave.
Q: Has he seen any other survivors? Very Unlikely Exceptional No Q: Was he in the village during the attack? 50/50 Yes Q: Did he hide? Likely Yes
“Did anyone else survive?” I ask as the two of us dig alone.
“None that I have seen. I really thought that I was the only who made it. You looked dead, with all of that blood caked onto your face and hair,” he points out.
I lift my hand to my scalp, and I feel the matted hair, caked with blood, and the cut, starting to close, “That should have killed me.”
“Glad that it didn’t,” he replies in a hollow tone. “It’s just the two of us.”
“How did you survive?” I ask.
Q: Will he admit it? Unlikely No
“By the grace of the goddess, I guess,” he mutters.
-My insight 4-
“Glad she granted it to someone,” I whisper.
-Encounter-Songbirds-
We dig for several hours as the water slowly pools in the bottom of the pit. A flock of sparrows light nearby, where once barking dogs or adventurous cats would have chased them away. The two of us start carrying the corpses of women and children over and dropping them into the pit. “Where is my husband? Where are the men?” I ask.
“You don’t want to see,” he replies, but I insist, and he leads me outside the half burnt palisade where I see the flayed and mutilated remains of the men who died trying to defend their homes and families. I collapse to the ground once more, wailing in despair.
-Wisdom save pass-
“Get up woman,” he shakes his head, and I am able to collect myself. Then I help him start cutting the bodies down.
-Encounter-Rustling sounds in the grass-
Hearing something nearby, I look around…”Orcs? Are orcs back?”
“Is there an arrow in my back?” he replies. “Just a fox or something.” Shakily, I return to the task at hand.
We work through the night, bringing the fallen to the hole, but we lack the strength to fill it back up. “Come on,” he says, and I follow him to the root cellar beneath the charred remains of his house. He has some ale, and an iron pot with some pottage in it, which we share. Then I take a look at his hands, and mine, both badly blistered and barely able to curl properly. I start to tear the hem of my dress to bandage them, but he stops me. “I’ll get something,” he states as he goes back outside. He returns with strips of cloth torn from another woman’s dress. With that, I bind up our hands. Then water from the well, we clean the blood from my scalp and he helps me bandage that wound as well.
Then the two of us lay down on sacks of grain in his cellar as he douses his lantern. We soon drift off to sleep. And the nightmare returns.
Scene 2: The Nightmare-night of the 23rd
Chaos Factor: 4 Expected Scene
I dream of the fight, of the faces of my dead children, my husband hanging upon the wall, my kin and neighbors being slaughtered by orcs, tortured and mutilated. Suddenly, I bolt upright, “Where are the others? Where are the other bodies?”
I get up, and fumble around the dark for the lantern, then light it up.
Q: Does Archibold wake? Likely Yes
“What are you doing? Get some rest?” the old man groans.
“Where is everyone else? We didn’t find nearly enough bodies!” I insist.
“Burnt in their houses. Or thrown upon their flames. Carried off by orcs, either dead or soon to be killed. Perhaps some fled. We’ll bury those we can. May the goddess receive the others as well,” he cautions me. “No turn off the lantern. Do not open the cellar door with a light. If there are eyes in the woods, they will see.”
With that, I douse the lamp once more, and lay back down. “What do we do? After we bury the dead, what do we do?”
“Go to Alsfair. You’ll marry another good man, and I’ll rent another plot of land under another lord, and the seasons will turn. Orcs will come and go, men will live and die. And Fate and Fortune will continue to cross the sky each night while the Dark Brother laughs as the pain his games cause us mortals,” Archibold opines before taking a great yawn. “But now, sleep. There is plenty enough sorrow for tomorrow, so don’t give it your dreams as well.”
I curl up in bed, sad, angry, bitter, and exhausted. Exhausted enough that sleep claims me once more.
Q: Do I get some good rest? Likely No
Sleep is no friend to me. I toss and turn and in the morning, my mind is still unsettled, but Archibold urges me to my feet. “Eat! We have a hole to fill. And I don’t mean the one in your heart. That will come later.”
I nod as I take the old crusts of bread he offers. But at least the cheese is good.
Scene 3: Holes and Hearts-24th Heyday
Chaos Factor: 4-Expected Scene
-Cool, no rain, light wind-
-Sense Hyperawareness-
-Encounter- Bandits-6 foraging-
I follow Achibold out into the morning sun and immediately spot some men poking around the burial pit. “Looters!” I whisper, eyes wide in horror as I grab Archibold’s arm and pull him back inside the cellar.
-Stealth 17 and 19- Q: Did they see us? Very Unlikely No
Quietly, we bolt the cellar door shut from the inside. “Why do you have…”
He interrupts me, “Sometimes, one must hide from the storm and let it pass.”
Q: Do we hear them come close? 50/50 No
We sit quietly in the darkness for what seems like an eternity. How long they spend pawing through the remains of our loved ones I cannot know. But we never hear them above us, nor their voices. We simply wait in silence. We eat old bread, cheese, onion, carrots and when light no longer slips between the cracks in the cellar door. Every morsel of food tingles on my tongue. The texture of the bread. The sharpness of the cheese. The warmth of the ale. I lay down on the sack of grain, and feel every bump and kernel as it molds to the shape of my back. And I drift off to sleep once more.
Scene 4: Finishing the Business at Hand-25th Heyday
Chaos Factor: 4-Expected Scene
-Warm, clear skies, steady wind-
-Sound-Hammering-
-Encounter Fox-
I push open the cellar door, and spot a startled fox scamper away from the gravesite. A woodpecker yammers at the old tree near the manor house where tey often do. “It’s clear,” I tell Archibold as I step outside. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t have been a fox in the village. “Let’s fill in the hole” I say as I pick up the shovel.
“That’s the spirit,” he agrees, and we quickly get to work. I don’t look at the bodies, for a dozen crows fly from the pit as we get close. Between them, looters and the fox, I hate to look them. The stench is foul enough.
-Afternoon Encounter-Remains of a bird kill-
After we finish burying the dead, I tell Archibold, “I need to see if there is anything left of my home. If we are going to rebuild, we need…whatever we can find.”
He nods agreement.
Q: Was my house burnt? Very Likely Yes Q: Was my purse stolen? Very Likely No Q: Was my wedding band stolen? Likely No
Scavenging DC 10, Rolled 16 and 21 seventeen finds: Cask of Honey Wine, Iron Pot, Trio of Copper skewers, Spindle and Thread, Horn comb, Set of Stone dice, Gardening tools (hoe, trowel, fork, rake, seed spike), sock full of sling stones, map of the kingdom, ink pot with quill and a stack of parchment, four chisels, a broad belt with steel plates, a pound of jerky, Healer’s kit, a silver pendant worth 5 sp, a carved wooden horn, and a bird net
We spend the rest of the afternoon gathering what little of value we can find. Inside the ruined manor house, I find a map, some ink and parchment, and though I can tell I’m looking at a map, I cannot read the words on it. But I know it is valuable, so I take it. I find a silver pendant half buried in the dirt, some tools. And a discarded belt with steel plates on it. In the ruins of Bartha’s home, I find enough herbs and remedies to fill an old leather pouch I find, plus some tweezers and clips. I find a horn, no doubt left by one of the orcs. Then…there is the keg of wine I found inside one of the other cellars. It is small enough to carry, but pretty heavy. Ultimately, we end up leaving most of these things behind, putting the valuables we are toing to take with us in a sack, and set off towards Alsfair with as much food as we can carry. As far as arms go, we have our eating knives for protection, and Archibold tells me he has a few coins. My own purse was stolen, was my wedding band.
-Evening Encounter-Local Patrol-Reaction 5-hostile-
Passing through the farm country, I notice several freesteads had been burned as well. Cattle have trampled the fields…and “Archibold? Is Alsfair safe? They came this way too.”
Then I hear a man call out, “Halt!” and I see a group of armed men wearing Alsfair livery step out of the wheat field beside us, crossbows leveled. “Looting is a capital crime!”
-Persuasion 2- Q: Do they shoot him? Likely Yes
“It isn’t looting if we are all that is left of our village!” calls back Archibold. I scream as the crossbow bolt slams into his chest. I drop the cask of wine and throw myself atop the old man.
-Medicine 7-(but he passes a death save with a 20)
“You bastards!” I cry out as I immediately start trying to staunch the bleeding.
“Get off of him!” the sergeant commands pulling me away. I see Archibold coughing. “Tough old bastard.”
“A better man than you!” I retort.
Q: Do they leave Archibold behind? 50/50 Yes (random event, PC Negative Deposit Expectation)
The men pull off my purse, take my wedding band, find the pendant, take the cask of wine, and my sack of loot, then take Archbold’s purse as well…then drag me along with them, leaving the old man behind. “A spy! Why do you have a map?”
“I found it in our lord’s home. Hoped to trade it for some food!” I protest.
“Looter!” the sergeant retorts. In Allsfair, I am thrown in a cell beneath the manor house to await punishment. All I have is my undergarments, for they have stripped me of everything else of value. Thankfully, that is all they did.
Scene 5: The Trial-26th Heyday
Chaos Factor: 5-Expected Scene
-Cool, Cloudy No Rain, negligible wind-
-Immersion, sound-bubbling-
I am hauled into the lord’s hall where Dame Alfifa sits in judgement. The village priest is there as well, as is the sergeant from yesterday. There is a pot of something boiling over the hearth, and…this isn’t the kitchen.
The guard pushes me forward, and the sergeant loudly declares, “Here is the looter we caught last night! She’s a spy! She had this map! Ink, parchment. She must be taking notes for our enemies!”
Q:Does Lady Alfifa ask the obvious question? Likely No
“You stand accused of robbing the dead, plundering your countrymen and despoiling our lands in time of war. How do you plead?” demands the stern looking young noblewoman.
-Fail my religion check so I can’t argue the virtue that demands mercy here, Persuasion 15 and 16 though, tapping advantage from having the blistered hands no looter would have-
I rip the crude bandages from my hands to show the blisters on them. “Archibold and I just spent three days in hiding, burying our dead family, neighbors and kin in Axdull! We were there when the orcs slaughtered everyone we know! We were there when men robbed our dead before we could pile the dirt on top of their bodies! We were there when crows pecked at their eyes! Yes! I took a map, and some ink, and the food that we found, because we would need something…anything to let us buy bread. Archibold wanted to become your tenant and start life anew. I would have helped him. And your men killed him! For just trying to survive.
Q: Does she release me? Very Likely No Q: Capital punishment? Very Unlikely Exceptional No
Lady Alfifa scoffs, “Thank you for your confession. Brand her a criminal and ship her to Westhold. I’m sure our liege will know best how to use a convicted slave.”
Q:Does Brother Complan interject? Likely No
I glance at the priest, and he looks away. I sigh, and bow my head, “Thank you for your mercy, my lady,” I bite back tears as a soldier pulls the nightgown down off my left shoulder and I feel the scalding iron burn its mark into my flesh. I cry out in agony and collapse onto the ground. Then am dragged outside, the wound still fresh.
Guessing what must have happened, several of the villagers curse and spit at me, as my wrists are lashed to the back of a wagon and a well dressed man passes a few coins to the sergeant from the day before.
The driver glances back at me. “Don’t worry. Oxen aren’t that fast. Poor sot,” he mutters.
I am then led east, part of some caravan of trade goods, escorted not by soldiers, but the sorts of hired swords that merchants often bring along. Just another product to be bartered away.
-Encounter-Ambient wildlife sounds-
Along the road, I hear the call of quail as mothers summon their young. My bare feet follow the wheel ruts, and I am glad to be in the middle of the caravan, and not the rear, and grateful that the oxen only crap in the center of the road, and not in the ruts.
Q: Does a guard talk to me? Likely Exceptional Yes
“What did you do?” a scruffy looking guard about my age asks, spear hoisted over his shoulder.
“Survived the burning of my village. The murder of my husband and children,” I reply.
“Ah, the goddess abandoned you? As she always does,” the man laughs. “There’s a better way, you know. If you’ll take the chance,” he whispers.
“Get away from me!” I spit back at him.
“Alright, alright…just…remember the mark of the serpent. When the goddess forsakes you. The First Father is the way,” he steps back.
-Minor annoyance, food spoilage-
We stop briefly in the village of Shortrot, where I am offered some moldy bread and rancid soup that must have been leftover from last night. I push it away while the caravan guard offering it laughs. After the guards eat their fill at the local tavern. The caravan pushes north.
Q: Am I left unwatched for a few minutes? Unlikely No Event, PC Negative: Leave Strength
Hungry, exhausted and starting to feel weak, I stagger behind the wagon as we head north. As the sun sets, we reach the town of Westhold, where the guards wave us inside. A couple of them sneer at me as we pass through their gates.
Ep 1: Scene 6: The Gate (26th Cont)
Chaos Factor: 5
(Immersion: Sidekick yells at NPC)
Passing through the gates of Westhold, I hear the caravan master yelling at people to get out of the road and make way for his wagons. The streets throng with people. Poor people, like me. Displaced with sunken eyes. Peasants carefully clutching small bundles of their possessions…free. Unlike me. Not branded criminals. Not like me, and I wonder, how has fate brought me so low.
-Encounter-Thief bump-
As we pass through the streets, I am suddenly jostled when a group of people try to push between my cart and the one behind. I feel hands along my waist, as though searching but I cry out, “Get away from me!”
Q: Am I chastised? Likely Yes
There is a crack of a whip against the edge of wagon rail in front of me and the drover shouts, “Pipe down! People can do whatever they like with you now. You’re nothing!”
I am taken aback by this, as I had mistaken his earlier words to me as kindness, but now, I realize that I can’t take such things for granted ever again. My heart sinks as my feet tread the hard cobblestones underneath.
-Generate sergeant-
Eventually, we reach the lord’s keep, and I am handed over to the sergeant on watch, who looks me up and down. He grips me by the jaw, turning my head this way and that. Then he steps around behind me to examine the brand on my shoulder…it still feels wet, and dull from pain. He comes back around, and speaks, his breath smelling of mint, “What did you do?”
-Persuasion 6-
“Survived the burning of my village and the slaughter of my family,” I reply.
Q: Does he react violently? Likely Yes
He slaps me across the face, and I turn my head from the sting. “No! What was your crime?”
“I am sentenced for…looting?” I suggest.
Q: Does he accept this answer? 50/50 No
He slaps me again. I spit at him! And he slaps me twice more until I cow from the blows. “What was your crime?”
“Looting! Robbing the dead!” I respond.
Q: Does this satisfy him? Very Likely Yes
He nods, satisfied, “Throw her in the cells,” he commands one of his men, and I am taken away into the keep.
-Generate guard-
A soldier receives me there, and looking me over, begins to carefully search me, his hands roaming my body as intimately as my husband’s once did. Then he suddenly shoves me away, “Bah! Nothing worth taking!”
I look at him in horror as he yanks me forward by the arm and pushes me into a cell. He then locks the door. “Push out your hands!” he commands, and I do so. He then unbinds them. “Did you eat on the road?” he barks.
“No,” I whisper.
Q: Does he offer food? Unlikely Yes
The guard smirks, but goes over to the table where he must sometimes sit, and takes a half eaten chunk of bread from a plate, bringing it over to me. “Eat! You’ll need your strength.”
“Thank you!” I reply, and sit down in my cell, clutching the piece of bread and slowly eating it in gratitude.
Q: Does he ask? 50/50 Exceptional No
He watches me for a moment, then turns away and goes back to the table. He sits in a chair, leans back and simply seems to relax.
Q: Are other captives here? Likely No
I look around and realize…there are no other captives. Just the guard, and myself. And I wonder how it is that a man must be assigned to guard an empty cell. Or was he brought down only due to my arrival?
Posts From a Long Winded Gamer 