A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Within are to be writ the tales of daring and adventure of those who have placed themselves on the path of glory. Share your exploits with other Castlers & Crusaders!
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Bifford
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A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

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Tuesday 16th June 2020.
Online via Discord and Fantasy Grounds Unity.

Me as Castle Keeper.
Livvy as Dame Avicia vai. Human knight. Warhorse is Glitterhoof.
Patrick as Gruff. Hald-orc druid. Your animal companion boar (unnamed as yet).
Mark as Otto. Human wizard. Familia raven, Quoth.


My first time running Castles & Crusades (I've played one small game as a player with Chuck as CK).
My groups first time playing C&C.
My first time GMing using Fantasy Grounds (Unity).
My groups first time using Fantasy Grounds.

I've started them on the path of the Aufstrag Umbrage Saga. A-series. Starting with A0 - Rising Knight.

For those not in the know this is a 17 part (so far!) saga set around and then on/in the Blacktooth Ridge.

As we are all new to the C&C rules I wanted to start the group of three somewhere away from the main action so we could get some time in getting used to the rules, rolls, and have a few road-encounters. This worked beautifully.

SPOILER:
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Our three people had been leaving the lands of New Aenoch due to the decadent lifestyle of the majority, in which they did not feel comfortable. They had met on the road and travelled North together, which is also what the majority of the people who now live in the Hruesen River Valley and the East March did. We caught up with them in the town of Elmast, standing by a noticeboard which had a week-old poster on it.

They discussed it a little, with the half-orc being especially puzzled by a lot of the words. Gritznak? Malforten? What proof could they want - an ear? a tooth? A signed form that agrees a part of him is his, before they chop it off? How long has this been up? He may have already been killed! How would we know!?

A local fisherman, with a good haul of fish in a net to sell, chuckles at them and says "You're new to this adventuring stuff then I take it? I expect you'd need to go to Malforten and ask about there for some answers."

Our intrepid three do not know the area, or where Malforten is. Avicia thinks she has a map which was given to her by her Lord but doesn't know how useful it will be. She and Gruff go to the tavern to look at it. Otto has seen the Sheriff's signature on the poster so goes over to what looks like an official building which is indeed the right place. He speaks to the sheriff there who says to go to Malforten and speak to Eryl the Hoskin who is in charge of the militia. He had sent a runner to that town to get more information about their plight but they havn't returned yet.

Meanwhile, in the tavern (which is empty due to the early afternoon status of the day) they go to the bar, which is manned by a young teenage lad whose name is Rishel. He is excessively exuberant. The knight orders a mead. The kid initially goes to get a normal glass, cleaned by the normal somewhat dirty rag, then does a double-take at the finery of a knight and instead gets a seldom-used glass goblet out of a special box in to which he pours a decent mead. The knight however has already walked to a table to look at the map, obviously expecting to have the drink brought over. She puts a random amount of coins on the edge of the table as payment.

Gruff asks for something "average" and gets a stout in a tankard. It lives up to the descriptor he asked for. He has some issues over paying but it does eventually happen.

When Rishel realises they are adventurers on the hunt for rewards he goes very chatty. Rishel always wanted to be an adventurer since, or so his mother used to tell him, he was knee high to a grasshopper! She's not here any more though, she was taken! At least they think she's been taken as she was here one day and not the next.

The wizard, Otto, soon joins them and has some wine. They decide to use the roads as much as possible as the horse and donkey wouldn't like going along marshy land or in a boat. It's the longer route distance wise but probably the easier one overall.

With some shopping for food-stuffs done they set off.

The first day travelling is mostly uneventful. They see and hear a rustling in the bushes by the path but on investigation it is a wild boar snuffling for truffles. A little later in the day they meet a trader, his wife and daughter on the road. Gritznak comes up in conversation and they say "Oh yeah, we've heard that he has spies everywhere!" Gruff asks them if they are spies? They say of course not.

They carry on until evening and find what is obviously a way-point at the road side, set up for a campfire and hobble points for the animals. As they are settling down for the night another traveller arrives, obviously wiped out from a hard day of travel, sets up his canvas cover and bedroll and without any ceremony goes to sleep. They guess it might be the runner returning to Elmast.

When our trio wake next morning the other person has already gone. They prepare to travel on.

Further into the day they hear a shout of fear and then the pounding of feet on a the dirt track, heading away from them, coming from around a bend in the road. Our courageous knight and druid charge along the road, passing a discarded cloth sack which lays flat on the roadside. As Avicia is on her warhorse she moves much faster and further, pulling her spear out while she's at it. She catches up with a farmer and side-swipes him so he lands in bracken to the side of the road, getting caught up in it. She quizzes him and he says two bandits just robbed him then told him to run, so he did! She tells him to get up and they'll go back to the others.

Otto had approached where the bag is and gets ambushed by two bandits. They are scruffily dressed, barely any armour, masks covering half their face and a dagger each. Otto, being surprised, doesn't get to act before he gets a dagger to the gut from one, and is grappled by the other. Playing for time Otto submits, but tells his raven familiar telepathically to get the others. Quoth tells Gruff who turns around and heads back.

The bandit cuts Otto's belt off as that holds all his items of value and then they start to head into the woods but they are too slow and Gruff casts entangle on them (and Otto). Avicia arrives with the farmer and dismounts.

The bandits are screaming obscenities at our group and saying they should stop this devil's magic and fight them normally! Gruff and Avicia know they can't get to Otto to sort his wounds out while the entanglement is up, and they can't deal with the bandits either, so they drop the spell. Otto fireballs one into the afterlife and the other gives up, dropping his knife and putting his hands up.

Gruff heads to Otto and bandages him up while Avicia confronts the bandit, saying that the farmer says you stole items from him, is that right? The bandit admits it and hands the items back. At which point Avicia declares that the accusation has been proven and runs him through with her sword. The farmer is petrified she will do the same cold-blooded murder to him so runs off again (leaving the items behind!).

They sort out Otto's wounds and we fade to black.

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old school gamer
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by old school gamer »

What level are the characters?

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Lurker
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by Lurker »

NICE write up :!:

Look forward to hearing the continuing adventure of the group

Thanks for sharing it.
"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

Forgive all spelling errors.

Knight Errant & Humble C&C Society Contributor
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Bifford
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by Bifford »

old school gamer wrote:
Wed Jun 24, 2020 2:30 pm
What level are the characters?
This is A0. They are level 1 and should be throughout A0, though I am not one for skimping on XP and give them session XP too. So we'll see.

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Bifford
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by Bifford »

Lurker wrote:
Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:33 pm
NICE write up :!:

Look forward to hearing the continuing adventure of the group

Thanks for sharing it.
Last night's game was hilarious. Write up soon!

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old school gamer
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by old school gamer »

The reason I was asking about their level is because you stated that one of them cast a fireball spell which is far beyond 1st level.

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Bifford
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by Bifford »

old school gamer wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:49 am
The reason I was asking about their level is because you stated that one of them cast a fireball spell which is far beyond 1st level.
I'll have to check that then! I let them gen their own characters which they are all pretty competent at doing (normally lol)

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Bifford
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Re: A0 - Rising Knight - #01 - Finding our feet.

Post by Bifford »

Okay, so he has Magic Missile :) And that is a 1st lvl wizard spell. All good :)

He probably called it a fireball and I obviously rolled with it and then it got lodged in my brain as a fireball :D

Good catch though!

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