The Green Woman of the Erin

Longman's hex-based exploration PBP campaign

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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Longman »

That will make me want to kill them all the more.

12th September, overcast, windy.

The former goblin path through the woods has been traversed and marked by rangers and soldiers to the point where a child of seven could follow it. Nonetheless, the soldiers, Gomer and Rhys, point out the way on numerous occasions, in an effort to be helpful. They seem to relax once the Marshall is not around.

Northward and northwest you go through D07 and E07, inside a range of hills.

In E07, Anna spots what she thinks is a large bipedal creature, about the size of an ogre, and totally yellow, moving about on a slope above the path. It was a few hundred yards away. She blinks and it is gone, or hidden in foliage.

No one else sees this, and the soldiers report no one else has ever reported seeing this.

Do you check it out or keep going?
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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Woe »

Yes, some rangers (Talin and Caradoc, plus Anna and Fido, if they don't impact the rangers' ability to sneak ahead) will investigate. The other six will follow but farther behind, bows out.

In the background, Kilian will see if he can fish out more information about the marshal. Not now though.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Longman »

The main group wanders up the hill to the place where Anna thinks she saw something. Three rangers are all pretty confident that if there was an ogre sized humanoid anywhere up here it must have been levitating. No tracks, and no sign of it at all.

Anna is abashed. "I've been feeling strange ever since I herd we were really going to Hag Rock," she says. "Those girls went missing before I was even born, but still...so many stories. Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me."

That was an extra EP in this hex. Nothing gained. Look round more, or continue to the caves?

(RP about the soldiers to come...)
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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Woe »

Continue to the rock, AND due to concern about Anna (and any other females about), Caradoc+Coll+Talin agree that at least one of the three of them will be next to Anna at all times. Fido too, if Talin can get the point across. Kilian is aware of it, but he doesn't have to suffer babysitting duty.

There might be something that charms females to do crazy things. Of course, there's an equally likely chance that charms males to do crazy things and the females are immune, but Kilian doesn't mention that to the human males. At least, not yet.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Longman »

If you are really keen, you can have Kilian back at the New Town. He'd jut have to be a bit more obedient and give less advice for a few days. You would move a lot faster. I think everyone else is move 40 and he is move 30, so if you dropped him you would get 8 EP a day. But you'd also be down some muscle when things got nasty.

Noted about Anna being guarded. Yes, the Hag of the Erin had a habit of taking younger girls. In fact, Erin means "the Girl". Normally the girls she took were a bit younger than Anna, though. But, some of them did wander off, of their own accord, as though being drawn on by something. No one foresaw this might affect a girl as old as Anna.

"Hey!" she says. "I'm not going to go wandering off in the middle of the night! I jut saw a green and yellow thing. Could have happened to anyone."

After a total of 4EP you reach the old goblin caves. They are a series of inactive limestone caves that have been extended, but not by much. Talin and the other rangers all agree that they have been inhabited by goblins sporadically, and only by small groups of maybe 20 or so. This was never a major settlement.

Fully exploring the cave system will take an EP. It has been done already by soldiers and rangers, but Talin wouldn't completely trust that it has been done properly.

The soldiers aren't going any further. They are staying the night here, with a dog they brought along.

Do you explore, camp here, or keep going. You have 2 EP left, or 4 EP if Kilian isn't with you.
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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Woe »

They'll camp at the caves for the night and start afresh in the morning. The caves at the least look comfortable and defensible. Because of that, Kilian, Talin, and anyone else interested will explore the caves more thoroughly.

Kilian quips something about Talin wanting to stay close to Anna and her imagination is just one of the reasons.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Longman »

So, Kilian is definitely present. OK.

A thorough 2 EP exploration of the caves occurs and finds - - - nothing!

The place is sorta defensible, but you could also get stuck in here, so it's a bit of a 2 edged sword. I'll map it if it's ever required.

The two soldiers don't open up to Kilian much, but they are obviously keen to impress Talin. It becomes apparent he is quite well regarded and is known as "the guy who went to the mountains and came back - - twice!" They let slip that the Marshall has been posted here as a kind of punishment for some social misdemeanour in Nore, and hates being here.

During the night there are no encounters. Everyone continues to keep a close eye on Anna, to her irritation. But she does not wander off in the middle of the night.

The next day the weather is almost exactly the same. North of you is totally unexplored territory. What route, and what pace, do you take?
Woe
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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Woe »

Sorry for the delay. I needed to see the map before planning this, and now it seems anti-climatic that I waited.

E07 -> E06 -> E05 -> D04 (and finish for the day @ 2EP/hex). Playing ahead in case nothing interesting happens...

I'm guessing all ROR are human? Bleck. Talin will (wisely?) use the dogs to offset the night blindness and put Kilian in the dead of night.

Ysa is male or female? I'm hoping male since you didn't mention it during the "babysitting Anna" episode, but it's a female name.

The group will look for somewhere defensible in D04. Kilian wishes again for a portable dwarven fortress, but will settle for a closed-off cave or thick copse if available. Watch order for ~11 hours (~7 hours of rest):
Talin + Anna + Fido
Coll + Kilian
Caradoc + Ysa + Corsa


The next day, assuming things work out this smoothly, will be the final hex up to Hag Rock. That will be 3EP and very very cautiously, with most of the rangers in a lead group doing the sneaky thing. I don't know their individual skills, but Talin will let Coll/Caradoc decide whether any of the rangers aren't sneaky enough to be in the sneaky group.

Sneaky group: Coll, Caradoc, Talin; all with bows; Fido.
Laggard group: Ysa, Anna, Kilian; also with bows; Corsa

If Anna has comments about being in the laggard group, it's because she's great with a bow, doesn't like to use her dagger, and thereby is more capable as an archer than as a brawler. Hopefully Anna doesn't remember how well Kilian is with his crossbow. :lol:
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Longman »

Heh. I had forgotten Ysa was even here. Yes, she is female, and about 30. Yes, the rangers are all human.

Were you waiting for me to post a map, or to get back to a computer?

You begin in F06, where the skull symbol is. You travel into E06. 2 EP down.

There are a few signs of goblin activity in this hex (felled trees, fires etc) but not as much as further south. There are a few minor trails but no main path.

Once again, the redheaded thief Anna thinks she catches a glimpse of some large yellow-green humanoid standing on the hillside above you to the west. The color reminds her of snot.

This time, she gets a strong sense that the humanoid is female, although it is a long way off. She says it is pointing, into the east, in the direction of I04, or maybe J03. There is something urgent about it.

However, she is entirely sure the creature is not real. This time she actually sees it blink out of existence.

She is not actually that freaked out by the fact that she is now having visions of a supernatural hag-woman or something of the sort.

What do you do? Stay on your course? Go east, as the vision indicates?
Woe
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Re: The Green Woman of the Erin

Post by Woe »

Has Ysa seen anything, or thought maybe she saw something then shook it off?

Unless Anna has strong objections, the group decides that it would be easier to continue on the original path to the river and then head upriver to J03 instead of cutting through the backcountry. If Anna strongly objects, the party will slow to 3EP/hex and move inland. The rangers will leave trail signs for anyone who later follows.

Later, when Talin and Anna have some private time, Talin will ask why Anna isn't disturbed about seeing something none of the men can see, in an area where girls have been lured away and never seen again. Is it because that's the new normal for Boldenwald, or does it seem more like some mystical force is calming her mind?
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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