Marking Twelve Months Of Adventuring...

The Chronicles Of Cidri has now been going for 12 months, which is something of a record for the Tuesday Knights.

It kicked off using the The Fantasy Trip mechanics, the very old system (dating back to the late '70s) from Metagaming, under Pete's guidance (always with the understanding that he and I would share the gamesmastering duties).

During the Tuesday Knights' early adventures, fellow blogger Chirine ba Kal (of the excellent Tekumel blog chirine's workbench) drew my attention to the Dark Fable miniatures of Dr Mike Burns.

Chatting with Mike, who was also a fan of The Fantasy Trip, he turned me on to Heroes & Other Worlds, a modern adaptation of TFT.

I did some investigating, got a couple of copies of the core HOW rules (one for me and one for Pete) and we decided to 'upgrade' our campaign to this more current engine. We haven't looked back.

The adventures I've run for the Tuesday Knights have all been based upon scenarios cooked up by the brilliant Tim Shorts (either from his fanzine The Manor or his Patreon campaign to produce micr-adventures), while talented cartographer Simon Forster (who is also running a Patreon campaign) has provided us with fantastic maps - updated from the sketchy originals in the TFT books - of the heroes' home town, Bendwyn, and the surrounding area.

Links to Campaign Chapters:

PREQUEL: Origin Stories - we all make new characters, using the TFT rules, in the wake of our TPK in Meredith's Warcraft campaign.

CHAPTER ONE: Dem Bones, Dem Bones and CHAPTER TWO: Zombie Sex Slaves - our heroes clear the undead taint from an old healing house near their town, so Pete's character (Kirchin) can restore it to its previous function.

CHAPTER THREE: Let's Hunt Some Ogre, CHAPTER FOUR: Battle Thong Of The Ogre Republic and CHAPTER FIVE: Frogroth Rising - Our heroes go to the aid of a neighbouring town that is being plagued by ogre trouble.

[At this point I took over running the game and we segued into using HOW]

CHAPTER SIX: Who Let The Pigs Out? Our heroes help the local salt pit owner to rid his mine of a troublesome pest.

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Hunt For Margesh Blackblood (part one), CHAPTER EIGHT: The Hunt For Margesh Blackblood (part two), CHAPTER NINE: The Hunt For Margesh Blackblood (part three) and CHAPTER TEN: The Hunt For Margesh Blackblood (part four) - our heroes travel all around the region in pursuit of an elusive bandit (taking in some side adventures on the way).

THE TUESDAY KNIGHTS: 

Meredith's first character, an apprentice wisewoman, was killed during the ogre adventure and replaced by her fiery young rogue, Imogen.

Clare made a welcome return to the Tuesday Knights during The Hunt For Margesh Blackblood arc, bringing with her trainee wizard Marigold Weaver.

My wizard (Marigold's master), Peter Entwhistle, retired to NPC status when I took over running the campaign, as I wasn't comfortable with the idea of having him around as a GMPC.

Pete's GMPC, Kirchin, stepped up to full player-character status when I became the campaign gamesmaster.

Kevin is playing the group's tank, a beefy dwarven weaponsmith called Davian Battlebeard.

Simon is the group's moral support, morale officer and amoral thief, halfling bard Harry Cobblethwaite.

Interlude II - Some Late Night Reading...

Betty Entwhistle

Betty Entwhistle's snoring could be heard from outside the wizard's house.

Marigold knew she'd be curled up in bed upstairs with her two young children - as Peter was still away - and so the young apprentice and her flame-haired friend Imogen tip-toed through the Marigold's own bedroom (which doubled as a storage room beneath the main sleeping area) making for the locked door that led to the wizard's library.

Imogen knelt down by the door, fished her lock pick set out of her belt and studied the lock. For someone of her determination and ability, it was a simple matter to pick the basic mechanism.

The door creaked open - the women froze, but no one in the house stirred - and a waft of dust, coupled with the smell of leather and mild decay, hit Imogen and Marigold.

Imogen gave a thumbs up sign and Marigold smiled. This was turning out to be easier than she'd expected.

The library was a small room, crammed floor to ceiling with books of various kinds and scrolls. In the centre of the room was sturdy desk, also covered in stacks of books. Some of the books were decorated with white splashes of bird excrement from Peter's pet raven, while others were coated in wax where broad candles had been placed on them for illumination.

Marigold lit one of the larger candle stubs and started to run her finger along the spines of the books on the closest shelf. 

She had briefed Imogen before hand about what she was looking for (primarily books about the "Witch Of Huldre Forest"), but as the potter's daughter was illiterate, they both decided it was safer if Imogen didn't go through the books.

Marigold knew the majority of Peter's collection were treatises on magic, but some were also books of magic and these were regarded as particularly dangerous in the hands of the untrained.

After about half-an-hour (it felt much longer), Imogen was starting to get bored and twitchy when suddenly Marigold let out a tiny squeal and pointed frantically at a green tome she had pulled from the shelf. Imogen shrugged.

'Legendes Of The Grayte Foret Of Huldre' was inscribed on the cover. Marigold excitedly began to leaf through this study of the various phenomena and folktales associated with the forest. She scanned over the section on ομίχλες της μνήμης (omíchles ti̱s mní̱mi̱s or 'memory mist'), which was clearly what she and her fellow adventurers had encountered the other week, before her eyes fell on a woodcut illustration:

The Witch Drowns A Peasant Woman

The accompanying text explained that the Witch Of Huldre Forest (Δάσος μάγισσα or Dásos mágissa) had first appeared at the court of King Ulfric (father of the present king) in Kaerater, the capitol city of Elyntia, about 76 years ago as an ambassador from an unknown land.

She was making outrageous demands on the court and Ulfric, who did not suffer fools gladly, had her entourage executed before she was stripped, beaten and driven from the city. With an escort of a dozen heavily armoured knights, she was then paraded through the land, from the capitol to the Bright River in the south, as a symbol of Ulfric's no-nonsense attitude.

When the party reached the Huldre Forest, the woman was cut loose, dressed only in rags and with no food, and left to fend for herself.

As the knights rode away, she was heard cursing them before she disappeared into the trees.

While most people believe she would have been immediately killed (and probably eaten) by the orcs of Tanander, rumours persisted in the decades that followed that the witch still lived and numerous child abductions (storytellers generally believe she wants to drink their blood) and drownings have been blamed on her.

Some said she became a queen of the orcs, while others suggest she magically travelled back to the kingdom from whence she came.

As Marigold finished reading, Imogen leaned in and tugged at her sleeves (the sign they had agreed to indicate that Betty was stirring).

They just made it out of the library (Imogen locking the door behind them) when the air was rent by an enormous farting sound as Betty heaved herself out of bed and, with a loud clatter and some fruity language, grabbed the bucket that was used for ablutions and stumbled, half-asleep, to the corner of the master bedroom.

The two young women couldn't help but giggle as they silently embraced, Marigold whispering her thanks to Imogen, who then slipped away into the night.

Marigold would have to pay a second visit to the library another night to swot up on the other matters she had an interest in.

The Entwhistle House: Peter's Library is out the back, accessed from the lower bedroom area on the left-hand side of the building