The Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 6 - Comrade Wolf Knows Who To Eat

Alden and Fedor depart Malinka after despairing of the archbishop's justice regarding Yulian the Stablemaster or Zbigniev the Miller. Fedor is able to convince his horse to carry his lupine companion, and the two of them are able to reach Vladykino after a day's ride, in half the time of their companions. They locate Yuri in what's left of his yard in the village, searching for horseshoes and any savings his family left behind (as it turns out, he locates a clay jar stuffed with pulo, kopecks, and a piece of silver jewelry hastily buried underneath his stoop). Meanwhile, Alden and Fedor become acquainted with the giant man - Bjorg, whom they heard about back in Malinka.

Shortly thereafter, Kesha returns with Lokan, who is driving two pigs from the mill before him.  Alden takes initiative, slaughters one of the pigs, and stays up all night to roast it. Parts of the pig are undercooked, and parts - charred, the following morning, so the group sticks around in the burned-down village for an extra day to allow the pig to finish cooking, and for Alden - to catch up on sleep.

The following morning, Fedor, Alden, Yuri and Lokan depart, with the understanding that Kesha and Bjorg will follow, once Kesha's business in Vladykino is concluded, and once they are done roasting the second pig (Bjorg eats for four). The away group has four people riding two horses, which still allows them to cover significant distance, despite the brief shower on the first day. The second day the weather worsens. A prolonged shower dampens spirits, and Vera has more problems with her shoes. This time, Yuri is ready with backups, but as he pounds in a new horseshoe, the party is surrounded by a group of six scruffy people, who invite them to sit around their fire. To Yuri and others, they look like they could be displaced peasants or bandits, but Lokan recognizes them as the people who had told him about the raid, the mill, and the miller on his way north.

After grudgingly following the scruffy people the party is led to a makeshift camp deeper in the woods, and the two groups proceed to exchange information. After Yuri briefly recounts their travels, and says they are following the Kochmaki to try to redeem his family, a man who calls himself Nikolai says they probably won't catch them. The Kochmaki passed here over a week ago, and are probably approaching the city of Udyn, which is a major slave mart. The slaves are usually housed on an island in the Udena River before they are sold, sometimes to city notables or the household of the local amir, sometimes down the river to Atavask, at the steppe's edge, where they are exchanged for horses. Yuri thanks Nikolai for the information and attempts to leave, but Nikolai acts a little offended in the party's refusal to reciprocate and to accept his hospitality. In response to his pressing, Yuri and Fedor tell him about the mill and its special properties, the dark magic of its operator, and the fact that he is now being held in Malinka. They have no explanation for why the Kochmaki left the mill intact, except to speculate that Zbigniev was somehow in cahoots with them. Yuri then begs off, using the fact that they have no time to lose in following the raiders as an excuse. Having received their information, the woodsmen allow them to go.

'And they say that we are baddies...'

Toward the end of the day, the group reaches the low bluff where Yuri had ridden to on his previous foray (before four Kochmaki chased him away). The campsite is abandoned, though evidence of the raiders' passage is still present. Searching through the debris and the undergrowth, Lokan manages to find a curved dagger, which he keeps. That night, a luminous, white-clad woman emerges from the woods, and singing haunting melodies, advances toward the clearing. Quickly gathering their things, the party flees into the woods - they can only imagine what sort of woman would be walking through here at this time of day, and Noya - Kupalo, one of the most magical days in the Noriki calendar, is only a few days away.

The following day is also overcast and wet. The party decides to follow a stream in hopes of making the best time possible. Since the pig has now been largely eaten, Alden is sent ahead to find some game. On his own, he quickly picks up the scent of an herbivore, but it turns out to be cows, not wild animals. Alden decides to take a risk, and discovers a small wooden tower surrounded by a compound on the banks of the stream. Inside, he spies a single person chopping wood, and apparently conversing with some barnyard animals. Deciding that the needs of the party outweigh the needs of the owner, and not having anyone to stop him, he changes into a wolfman, and rushes the main inside, taking him by surprise, cutting into him with his scythe, and then biting through his throat. As the man bleeds out, Alden succumbs to bloodlust, and devours much of the poor man. He then looks in the barn, and finds, to his disappointment, that there were only two cows (and two goats). The goats flee, while Alden takes one of the cows, and leads it back toward the party.

Alden's companions are rather shocked to see him bringing a cow rather than a deer, and even more shocked to see him drenched in blood. They demand to know what happened. At first, Alden tells them that he took the cow from some peasants, and ate a goat while in the village. In response to pressing - how many people saw him? - he finally admits that he killed a man, but blames him for resisting. Yuri answers that resisting an attack on himself and his property does not make the other man guilty, and wonders aloud whether he is able to travel with Alden anymore. Then, Alden justifies his actions by saying that he was looking out for the needs of his companions, who must have something to eat while they pursue the Kochmaki. After Yuri states his dislike for the raiders does not justify wanton murder - and eating! - of people, Alden responds by saying that he was recently enslaved, while his kind have been dealt a bad hand, and are often unjustly treated, and this makes him lash out in ways that he can't control. The Yuri and Fedor shake their heads, but there is nothing to it, the deed is done, and they must continue on their mission (along with their new cow). But they make Alden swear to never do something like this again.

As ever are the weak at fault before the strong

  The party camps further downstream at the end of an exhausting day. Just before dawn, the white woman appears again. This time, she moves purposefully toward Lokan, who is on watch, and while he is waking his companions, demands to know who killed her husband. Lokan tries to resist, but the woman dominates the rest of the group into submission, and quickly learns the answer to her question. She instructs Alden to accompany her, and leads him into the stream, where she proceeds to try to drown him, and bites him twice in the neck, causing him to weaken. Lokan tries to throw his companion a rope, to no avail, while Yuri, thinking that she is in trouble, attempts to help her by trying to pull her out of the stream. None of the party's interventions appear to work, and Fedor starts repeating the man's wife is a rusalka, and that Alden is a goner. Finally, Lokan breaks out the whip, and connects with the woman, which gives Alden a chance to break free, and flee to the other bank of the stream. Exasperated, the woman announces that Alden is to be a curse to his companions, breaks off, and swims quickly down the stream.

The Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 5 - Bjorg's Bear's Services

Lokan, a vagabond from the south, has come to Malinka at nightfall. He had heard from some rough men living in the woods that Kochmak raiders have recently destroyed the village of Vladykino, though they left the village mill, its lifeblood, untouched. As they tell it, the archbishop's people from his summer estate at Malinka came afterward, and took the miller with them, for unknown reasons, but likely having to do with dark deeds.

Lokan stopped at the mill on his way to investigate the burnt out village, but found nothing save a suspicious bag of bones, a dead vasilisk, and some starving animals at the barn. He decided to continue on to Malinka, to see what he could learn about the miller's fate. But he arrived to after nightfall, and found the gate to the estate closed, so after finding a crabapple tree a short ways outside, he decides to spend the night in the tree.

* * *

In Malinka Yuri looks to gather a party together to go off in pursuit of the Kochmaki, in order to recover his family and his paramour. He hears from Father Oleg that a curious traveler has arrived from the north - a huge man, standing over four arshins tall. As Fedor and Alden are busy running an errand for the brewer, and Kesha has private matters to discuss with the priests, Yuri decides to seek out the foreigner, as he seems like he would be a useful companion. Oleg recommends that he get his party together as fast as possible, seeming to suggest that their further presence in Malinka is troubling to the archbishop.

The billing lives up to the hype. The foreigner, Bjorg, is indeed a huge man, who has come from the Land of Birma to seek out news of his kind living on the eastern edge of the Land of Nor'. He wears peculiar headgear, and carries a huge cudgel with a stone driven through it, but on the plus side, he is eager for adventure, and wishes to prove himself against the troublesome raiders. He and Yuri agree to leave early the following morning, and at his request, Father Oleg provides him with two days of food for seven people.

Bjorg in a candid moment, without his horned hat

* * *

Kesha speaks to Father Oleg about the deed to the land that he has carried with him all these long years, since he left the Svora Mountains, and returned to the world of humans. Oleg confirms that the land mentioned in the document is the land upon which the mill in Vladykino now stands. He also confirms that Kesha's mother was the owner of the land, but that she was deeply indebted to the archbishop, for which reason Kesha was enslaved when he came to the village. The mill was built on the land at the archbishop's behest, but it is not covered by the deed. Kesha would technically be within his rights to attempt to recover the land, but his mother's debt is still outstanding. Moreover, Oleg adds, trying to recover it is not worth his trouble for other reasons. Now that the archbishop has granted him his freedom, Kesha should take advantage of it, and travel to all four corners of the world, and the sooner, the better.

Taking that under advisement, Kesha goes to speak to Zbigniev. The miller's bonds have been removed, though he is still in the same room at the rectory. Zbigniev seems to bear a grudge against Kesha and his companions, and accuses them of attacking him without provocation, and stealing wealth which he came by fairly, and without killing anyone. He also threatens that his father will kill Kesha and his friends. Not wishing to make enemies, Kesha returns his portion of the coins he took from the mill, but Zbigniev demands that the money taken by the others should be returned to him also.

* * *

Yuri and Bjorg leave Malinka the following morning. Kesha, who has slept in, is to meet them outside the gates, while Fedor and Alden, who are still preoccupied, will meet up with them on the road as best they can.

Outside the gate, they find a hirsute man, with a somewhat grisly visage, sleeping in a tree. Lokan awakes to the sounds of heavy stomping and hoofbeats. He sees the gate open up ahead, and watches a rider, along with a huge man, approaching him. He asks the travelers who they are, and as Yuri introduces himself and Bjorg, Lokan decides to fling one of the crabapples he gathered the previous evening at the volot's head, just to see his reaction. The big man is amused, or perhaps not, so he picks up the vagabond, and throws him back into the tree. Lokan misjudges the distance, misses grabbing the branch with his hands, and goes into it head first, before falling, unconscious, onto the ground. Both Bjorg and Yuri stand astounded at the sight of this man, who they have just met, bleeding out from his head. Yuri begins to furiously call for Kesha or the priests, and fortunately, the small man with the eye bandage just happens to be walking out the gate. Kesha runs up to the body, and, his hand glowing with light, applies aid to the man's head. The wound closes, and Lokan regains consciousness. Bjorg is chagrined at not knowing his own strength, and the rest are relieved at not bearing witness to a murder just outside Malinka's gates. Grateful to his savior, and hoping to return to Vladykino with some protection, Lokan happily joins the group.

* * *

The group travels south along the beaten path, and encounters no obstacles during the day. At night, while Yuri and Kesha are on watch, they hear a high-pitched whine approaching them. They awaken their companions, and while Kesha summons an arcane light onto his walking stick, Yuri peers into the darkness, to see what is coming for them. Soon, a huge swarm of mosquitoes flies into view. Yuri attempts to lead them away from the group on his horse, but the rest of the group runs at the swarm as it begins to follow. Lokan is surprisingly successful at swatting masses of the pesky gnats with his whip, but Bjorg has Kesha light a branch, and throws it at the insects. He overshoots, and hits Yuri's horse Vera in the rump, sending sparks all down its hide. The horse panics, and flees the scene of the battle, while Yuri attempts to calm it. In the meantime, Kesha attempts to zap the bugs with magical discharges. Masses of bugs are dispatched, but they have become enraged, and attack all they can reach. Bjorg continues flinging projectiles at the cloud, and is still not having much luck. He hits Kesha with a rock instead. Finally, weakened by zapping and whipping, the big man brings a rock down on top of what's left of the swarm, and raises his arms in triumph.

Swatting mosquitoes - a perfect opportunity for another bear's service!

The party is covered by mosquito bites, and bruises caused by their big friend. They decide to take extra hours of rest before setting out, even if it means arriving in Vladykino under the cover of darkness. In trying to flee the fight, Vera lost a horseshoe, which slows movement even further. Finally, several hours after sunset, they arrive in Vladykino. It is no longer burning or even glowing, but wood smoke and the stench of burned flesh still hangs in the air. Otherwise, the place appears to be undisturbed.

Yuri goes back to what is left of his home, and searches the compound for any horseshoes that might have survived, and as his family were horse-breeders, he does succeed in finding three dozen. He then settles down with Bjorg to eat what's left of the priests' food, while Lokan, closely followed by Kesha, returns to the mill. Here, he releases the hungry animals, all of whom, except the fowl, run out of the barn. He succeeds in enticing the two pigs with his crabapples, and they follow him back to Vladykino, hoping they will be fed, and not food.

Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 4 - Domestic Disputes

The following day, while the rest of their companions are attending to personal matters, Alden and Fedor - both persons-at-arms and servitors of the Archbishop, seek to occupy themselves. Fedor consults with Father Oleg - the attendant priest, and liaison to the Archbishop - about possible ministration for his limp, but the good father cites the prohibitive expense, and the Archbishop's business with other matters.

The two then go into the practice yard to spar. Alden gets the first lick in with a wooden sword, but the fight is full of falls and missteps, and Fedor's hard hits with the axe handles send Alden tumbling to the ground, and yielding. Three other warriors watch the fight, and narrate it with snide commentary. One of them throws Alden a kopeck for the entertainment the fight provided.

When the training day is over, Misha the brewer wheels several casks of beer into the compound, to help the soldiers relax. Fedor engages him in conversation, and asks them if there are any matters in Malinka or the vicinity that need attending to, that might earn them a bit of coin. Misha does have a problem that he would be willing to pay to solve. Apparently, he and Yulian - the master of stables - fought for the hand of the same woman. Misha won, and married her, but Yulian never let the matter go. As Misha tells it, the stable master is also a sorcerer, and has given him the evil eye, and caused accidents for him on several occasions. If the pair drive him out of the estate, Misha is prepared to pay them one ruble.

The following day, the two head to the stables to seek out Yulian. They find him carrying a bag of horseshoes into the stable. Fedor tells him to lay off Misha, and to find someone else to court. Misha tells them to mind their own business. When they persist, Yulian smacks Fedor in the head with a horseshoe. The stablemaster is quickly subdued, but as the two warriors beat him down, Fedor feels hands closing in on his throat, choking him. At first, the two men think Yulian is doing this through some dark magic. But the choking continues even after he is knocked unconscious. Seeing no one else around, the two quickly tie Yulian up and leave. Only after they get a ways away from the stable does Fedor feel the pressure on his throat lighten.

Yulian, when he's not being pestered about his personal life

The two bring Yulian to Father Oleg, tell him the tale of the contendings of Yulian and Misha, and claim that he used dark magic to try to choke them. There is a lot of dark magic going on on the Archbishop's lands, they say, and something needs to be done about this.

Gathering Information: Situations, News, and Rumors

An open-ended approach to urban adventures involves gathering information for a long-term project or an emergent side-venture chosen by the player characters themselves. Cities are typically the best-known parts of the world, and are clearing houses of information about other parts of the world, so operating in cities can make the world somewhat less mysterious than looking outward from small villages or trekking through the wilderness. Being aware of a city’s rulers and its history and people, key trade items and attractions, political position in a wider world, and secrets can help determine characters actions in a campaign or an individual adventure.

Character Knowledge

The larger the city, the more knowledge is available about it. Use the following table as a rough guide for setting difficulties for a knowledge roll (typically History) about a particular type of settlement:

Type of Settlement                                                            Base DC Knowledge Roll

Isolated Settlement                                                                                 30

Hamlet                                                                                                    25

Village                                                                                                     20

Town (1000 – 10000 population)                                                            15

City (10000 – 50000 population)                                                            10

Capital/Metropolis (over 50000 population)                                           5

It is open to GM discretion whether characters who lack proficiency in the knowledge skill in question may make a knowledge check about a particular settlement. The number of facts also depends on having proficiency, and/or on the result of the roll. Rolling to know Secrets (see below) is usually done at disadvantage. Further, at GM discretion, a failed roll may result in misinformation being learned (Variant: 40% of all information learned via a successful Knowledge roll is a red herring).

Learning Information

Information about a city or settlement can be acquired at most public places, though doing so anywhere outside of a Tavern, Hostel, or Market might have to be performed at a disadvantage (especially if the character attempting to do so is clearly not local, or an authority figure such as a noble, official, or priest). In some cases, the disadvantage may even apply at these locations as well. Typically, to acquire a piece of information, a character will have roll a successful DC 15 Investigation check, though the difficulty may increase to 20 or more (or carry a Disadvantage in the case of an isolated Homestead in a particularly small settlement, or if an investigator is trying to learn Secrets. Common information can include the following (see also DMG, p. 112):

·      Who rulers or VIPs of a particular locale are

·      Their relationship to other VIPs in a locale

·      Recent occurrences at the locale (see Year’s Occurrence Table or make one yourself)

·      The presence of a particular type of business or trade item in the area

·      The presence of a particular type of institution (e.g. a church dedicated to a particular saint, a ranger lodge, a postal waystation, etc.)

·      The presence of a particular family or significant individual (if not in hiding)

·      The timing of important events (local celebrations, weddings, tax levies, the planned arrival of an external VIP, the departure of an important mission, etc.)

The first thing newly arrived travelers will likely discover is the general situation in the town or settlement. Unless you already have an idea in mind, you can roll on the following table, or select a particular situation:

Situations (d12):

1.            The settlement is well-governed, orderly, and prosperous

2.            The settlement is preparing for war

3.            The ruler has mysteriously vanished (or is being held hostage)

4.            There is strife between factions or sects, with likely support from outside forces

5.            A revolt is brewing among the lower orders of the settlement (with likely support from above)

6.            The ruler and his/her supporting clique are fools, weaklings, or religious fanatics

7.            An isolated clique wields power with little internal support

8.            The settlement is recovering from a recent calamity (invasion, attack, famine, plague, economic collapse)

9.            A particular neighborhood is unsanitary/has been taken over by unsavory characters

10.          A charismatic stranger has recently arrived with wondrous objects or new ideas

11.          The settlement is overcrowded with refugees from a nearby disaster

12.          The settlement is beset by an inexplicable sense of foreboding and dread 

In addition to learning about the local goings on, characters in settlements may also learn of important goings on in the outside world (News). To learn a piece of information, a person must succeed on an Investigation roll. The difficulty is determined by the size of the settlement one is present in (see the Character Knowledge Table above). If information is sought about a locale with 10 kilometers, the roll is made at advantage. If it is sought about a locale more than 1000 kilometers away, the roll is made at disadvantage. Further, if one seeks information at a tavern, hostel or market, the roll is made as if the settlement is of a type one row lower on the table than in reality (i.e. an isolated tavern is a treated as a Hamlet, a hostel in a Village is treated as a Town, etc.). Moreover, if information is sought at a Waystation, the roll is made as if the settlement is of a type two rows lower (a Hamlet is a Town, a Village is a City, etc.). Types of available information may include (d10 for a random result [Variant: roll a d20, and treat 11-20 as “No Result”]):

News (d10):

1.            Another city or realm are undergoing internal trouble (revolt, civil war, invasion, famine, plague)

2.            Another city or realm are planning to launch an invasion against someone

3.            Another city or realm have just had a change of ruler, dynasty, or political order

4.            Another city or realm is planning or thinking about a religious conversion

5.            Another city or realm is experiencing an unprecedented period of prosperity for some reason

6.            A Power, group of monsters, or calamity (earthquake, comet) is terrorizing a city or a country

7.            A treasure, wondrous item, or new technical marvel have been discovered or imported

8.            A VIP has set out (or returned) from a distant journey with wonders and tales to tell

9.            A prophet, saint, revolutionary or great scholar has arisen in another city or realm

10.          An ancient ruin, creature, or item have been rediscovered

In addition to News, Rumors and Secrets can also be gleaned about a particular person, family, household, or estate. The DC for an Investigation roll is typically set at 15 (as stipulated above), though attempts by outsiders may have a higher DC (or be made at Disadvantage). To determine the nature of the rumor, roll a d6 (if you think a rumor about the NPC is likely), or a d30 (if you think it's unlikely, and consult the Rumors and Secrets table below (treating all results above 6 as "no result"). . [Variant: failed rolls, or 40% of learned rumors in case of success yield spurious information]):

Rumors and Secrets (d6):

1.            Illegitimate child/illicit affair

2.            Criminal wrongdoing in the past or present (theft, graft, desertion, treason, murder)

3.            Secret hatred for or rivalry with another

4.            Dabbling in forbidden religion or lore

5.            Secret identity (including being a changeling, skinshifter, of another gender, etc.)

6.            Possession of secret treasure (or creature)

You may want to consult the DMG, p. 90, for further options.

A particularly effective way of learning about adventures, receiving news, and sniffing out rumors is to gain admittance to a feast. Any true city will have a feast thrown at the mansion of an oligarch, rich noble or merchant, or other VIP thrown on any given day. To win an invitation, one must seek out the appropriate person at the right public place or at their home, and convince them by making a DC 15 CHA roll (CHA-based proficiencies may apply, as appropriate). The check may be conditioned by the following factors:

Admission to a Feast:

Character is an important prince or boyar, or a high-level VIP                        Advantage/-5 from DC

Character is a competent performer                                                                 Advantage/-5 from DC

Character is a commoner or bondsman                                                            Disadvantage/+5 to DC           

Character is foreign or markedly “different”                                                     Disadvantage/+5 to DC

For each additional person trying to gain admission simultaneously                +1 to DC

If a character has managed to gain admittance to a feast, he or she may make further Investigation checks for Information, News and Rumors and Secrets at advantage (or without disadvantage), as appropriate.