Sunday, February 20, 2011

SPQM c1s4b: ‘‘Freedom’’ they shouted.


Early Summer, 0 Twists
It's morning and the patrol leaves, with the philosophers, with the mysterious box manacled to Dekia, with the belly shooter box on a bug, with the trader with his foremouse, body guards and bugs. Slowly, slowly the move on along the road. They have travelled for a few days when Gaius notices that they are followed and he also think, which the others confirm, that there is the scent of more mice in the air and since there's  no fields or good harvesting areas nearby that's suspicious. At first they think of ways to avoid the probably coming ambush from bandit but then they instead think of preparing themselves for the assault since it will be hard to go somewhere else with that a big company and it is after all their duty to take care of bandits roaming the areas between the cities.
Later the same day Gaius spots the mouse mouse in front of the by a hill that's probably the sign for the coming ambush and shouts his orders and the patrol members ready themselves and the body guards prepare to protect their hirer and the goods (Check, get to Cyprios, Complex Test part one: Passed Scout versus 5D, the ambushers are discovered and the patrol prepared, +1D for Tool - prepared). ''For Sapientias freedom!'' the mice shouts and throw themselves at the party. Gaius makes the process short with the spotted mice and engages another as the other do. A fifth mouse almost get around and get to the caravan where they suspect to find something, the box, that they want. The patrol fights good and bravely and encircle the fifth mouse and takes him as prisoner as the other run to the wilderness (Check, get to Cyprios, Complex Test part two: Won Conflict with Major Compromise, the Major Compromise being a Twist).
As they tie the bandit and look around for a second attack the philosophers come running very excited. Apparently the bandits managed to snatch Aeneas instead of the box. Seems like there where more bandits than they thought in the beginning. They question the captured bandit but he refuses to say where they're taking Aeneas and only repeat that this is for the freedom of Sapientia which disturbs them all but especially Dekia. The cities are in a league together, not controlled by some imperialist city dominating the others. The bandit speaks about the treaty that Sapientia signed that, according to him, says that Sapientia must give money, goods and recruits to Asylum or else. That's quite laughable since all recruits are volunteers and the support to The Pretorian Guard, not Asylum, also is voluntary. He says that he has seen a copy and that they should look ''in the lower right corner on the back side of the treaty''. The patrol dismiss him as brain washed and turn to the rest of the traveling party.
They tell the philosophers to follow the trader and his body guards to a safe place and hide there. They don't trust them so the patrol has to find a safe place and everybody except the patrol hide there. The patrol then sets off to find Aeneas. They keep much a faster pace than the bandits and soon pass by them and finds their hideout where they wait for them (Twist, Complex Test part one: Passed Scout versus 4D). When the bandits arrive the patrol falls on them as load of bricks and go straight for Aeneas. They hold up their shields and tackle their way through the bandits and grab Aeneas and make him run for his life. They escape although Dekia is suffering from carrying the damn box all the time (Twist, Complex Test part two: Passed Fighter versus 4D). A bit further away they stop and rest and then go back to the rest of the party.
In the evening Dekia talks a lot with Aeneas and tries to make him slip with his tongue and say something about the content of the box but he doesn't. He keeps his mouth shut, even to a former Sapientia citizen (Check: Deceiver versus 6D, Failed with a Twist). In the morning they're woken up by Lucius who stands guard who says that there are mice snooping around. ''No, not more bandits'' they think and ready themselves and get out of the hole before the fighting begins. Bandits pop out of the bushes and attack them. ''For the freedom of Navalia'' they shout runs forward. The fight is hard and barely won, the bandits seem to be bent on getting at either the trader or the philosophers but the patrol forsake themselves to stand in the way and the bandits, not being willing to do the same sacrifice, return to the bushes and disappear (Twist: Conflict versus two parties, won with Major Compromise, the patrol is Injured and Tired).
They hurry to get moving although the philosophers protest about the traders body guards who apparently didn't guard their bodies. Gaius tells them to shut up and that the body guards are not paid for protecting them. The philosophers mumble something about ''duty'' but stop the complaining. A few days later when they stop for the night unusually early Lucius can't constrain himself and when the philosophers are busy he borrows the box from Dekia and turns and turns it to get the light to pass through the slits between the planks in the outer box. He manages to see a lot of old pictograms which he describe for Dekia who write them down, some of them she even recognize but can't remember. He also sees a little wax mouse with an uncoloured pretorian cloak encircled by lead thread. That's omnious because that's probaly a curse and it must have been put there by another of the workers at Aeneas' work shop (Check: Passed Scientist Ob4).
Then finally, yet a few days later, they arrive to Stameus (End of Player's Turn). 
illern (a) illertass.se

Sunday, February 13, 2011

SPQM c1s4a: Dangers; herons and militia captains


Early summer 0 twists
The guards and the philosophers stay at the tavern, eating and waiting for the evening to come, to sleep and go on the next day. They discuss the heron and weather they're going to Navalia or not. The philosphers want s to take a break from the wilderness and the villages to get to some civilization (the smaller cities Cyprios and Stameu apparently isn't enough) and the patrol wants to avoid the city because of assumed concentration of enemies there. The philosophers think the patrol is paranoid and ask questions like ''Do you actually think they will, like, stab us in the middle of the city?!?'' and doesn't understand or don't want to understand the patrols point of view. The discussion gets quite animated and loud and other mice start to look at them and they try to be discreet but fail, especially Gaius gets very annoyed at the philosophers.
In come a gang of better dressed bandits and roughians. They keep their daggers, weapons - not tools, in their belts although they leave the spears they probably ahve outside. After a short turn to the bar and the tavern owner they approach the patrol and ask if they're Gaius' patrol. They then tell them that they're sent by the arconts of Sapientia (the highest leaders, nine nobles) to get the very important box with the very important and secret thing manacled to the one responsible for it. They say they're from the Sapientia militia. Gaius tells them that they have no jurisdiction outside the city and that they do not nned to bother about a Pretorian Guard mission. The militia captain insists on meddling and says that since the thing left the the city without the arconts knowing it there's a form of ''retroactive jurisdiction'' bound to it. ''Would someone please be manacled to it?'' If not, they will ahve to bring it back to Sapientia. Gaius gets a little upset again and tells them that they'll have to walk through him to get the thing. The captain answers that then they'll have to do that. Dekia tries to soften the discussion and slow down the rage that's building up. Lucius looks on astonished and surprised. Finally Dekia goes against her centurio's, Gaius',  order and says that she will take the responsibility and be manacled to the box. Barely, she manage to get Gaius to accept this.
Aeneas is asked if he knew that the arconts should have been told about the box leaving Sapientia and he says that of course he knew that. He assumed that they understood the the government should have been notified about them fetching hte box from the militia. The patrol looks at him in anger but don't press on with a discussion. One of the milita mice founds out that the village, no surprise, has no smith and the hearest is two villages away. The militia captain has no problem with the patrol taking on the heron with Aeneas new belly shooter as long as he can send along one of his mice. The patrol accepts that and the two groups calm down and sits down in one end each of the tavern's dining room.
As the night closes in and the patrol and other travelers almost begin to prepare for sleeping more travelers arrive. This time it's a trader, hos foremouse and a few body guards. They get very excited when they see the patrol and with joy asks for escort. The patrol realizes that it would be hard to motivate turning them down but that the trader will slow them down significantly. They try to evade the escorting by telling the trader that they will stay in the area for several days doing other missions. That's no problem for the trader. He gladly offers a few days on a near month-long journey if he can get a pretorian patrol as escort. Unwillingly the patrol accepts if the trader waits for them.
Finally everyone goes to sleep.
In the morning the patrol, one militia mouse and the philosophers walk south towards the coast and the place where the heron's supposed to be these days. They find the heron and start to unpack the belly shooter and are going to do a dry shooting to test the thing when the heron spots them and sets off to get some late breakfast. Hurrying they jury-rig a sheild and spears as a mount for the belly shooter and with Gaius croaching and carrying some of the weight and Lucius as shooter and Aeneas giving ''valuable advice''. In the last second Lucius has aimed and fires and the dart goes right up the throat of the heron who stumbles forward.
Dekia and the philosophers run for cover while Gaius pulls down Aeneas and protects him with his body and Lucius throws himself over the belly shooter to protect it. The heron falls and with thunder borrows it's beak into the ground and lay still. Dead (Passed Scientist versus Heron 7D).
Everyone flocks around the heron to look at it, examine it and to cut feathers as trophies. Soon the philosophers are making plans for how two-mice patrols with a belly shooter can take on any animal. The pretorians try to protest but don't manage and still arguing about it the return to the next next village along the route where they can find a smith.
They announce to the villagers that the heron is dead and the villagers cheer for The Guard. Suddenly the whole village seem to appear from nowhere and Lucius gladly tells the story about the heron killing in the tavern while the others do the work that's left, getting a case for the dismantled belly shooter and getting Dekia manacled to the very important box. The smith congratulates them and get to work almost without questions. The patrol accept the arconts's demand for someone taking responsibility and getting manacled to the box and soon it is done (Obstacle, convince the militia captain that it can't or shouldn't be done, accepted)
Gaius searches for a villager known for his carpenter skill and orders a case for the belly shooter which will be delivered before midday the next day. When Dekia, Gaius and Aeneas come to the tavern it's totally packed with villagers listening to Lucius' story. Instead they get a little food and drink from the back door. When mice starts to return home to go to bed the slave approaches Gaius and Dekia and tells them that a hare had been sitting listening to something, probably Lucius' story.
A little late they get to sleep (End of GM's Turn).
<GM’s Note>Still a lot of role playing going on.</GM’s Note>
illern (a) illertass.se

Sunday, February 6, 2011

SPQM c1s3b: A missing box


Early summer, 0 Twists
The next day they visit the tribunis that are in Sapintia. It's quite common that tribunes stays in the important cities of the League of Mice Cities as private persons but (as they have no jurisdiction within the cities) but still are representatives for The Pretorian Guard and advice patrols arriving to the cities. They ask to see him and is told that they can come the next day after the client reception. They look at the city and in the afternoon they visit the palestra, the athletics exercising ground, in hope to meet the at least some of the physicists there as all civilized mice do some exercising. Dekia asked her father but he didn't know where Aeneas lived.
At the palestra there are some mice already but no mice that looks like any of the physicists. Dekia do a lot of armored running, Gaius wrestling and Lucius throws the discus. A young hotspur challenges Gaius but loses in the end due to Gaius greater stamina but it's a close call. Gaius is cheered at and the sapientia mouse a little grumpy. During the wrestling a lot of betting were done and many mice lose quite a sum from Gaius winning the wrestling. 
After a while a group of mice that has an aura of philosophers around them arrives. It doesn't take long to recognize Aeneas's mentor Andromada. They manage to start a discussion with them and seem interesting and are invited to the baths after the exercising. At the baths Dekia starts to discuss different government varieties with Andromada and her neighbour. Meanwhile Gaius starts up a quite animated discussion with a fem mice around him and Lucius get to exchange a few words with Aeneas unnoticed. Aeneas is really interested in going to Asylum for a while and isn't forced to in any way and believes that goes for the other three too. He also invites the patrol to dinner the same evening to discuss the journey undisturbed and to get to know each other a little.
The patrol goes home to Dekia's family's house to change clothes and freshen up a bit. Lucius wears his toga and Dekia borrows a himation from her mother while Gaius goes as a pretorian in his cloak. They have nice seven-parts dinner with Aeneas and decide to leave on the second morning. Aeneas says he has a lot to do, among other things to inform the other three philosophers, and ask the to fetch the box with the secret invention from the militia who is guarding it. They get a token and a signed letter with Aeneas's insignia. During the evening Aenaeas also talk a lot about his new belly shooter and gets quite excited about the prospect of using it against the heron. He decides to bring it and the patrol doesn't mind but they secretly decide that they don't want to test it themselves.
The next day they visit the tribunis and reports on the regular matter to him and since they already had got in touch with the philosophers they don't mention the secret mission and he doesn't mention it either so either he doesn't know about or he doesn't know which patrol to expect for the mission. After that they visit the agora and the market to buy an amphora of resin wine to treat the philosophers with THey expect them to be used to quite comfortable travels and not the kind that awaits them. Dekia finds an honest trader with a nice wine and uses some of the mission money to buy an amphora for them (Check: Passed Resources, +1D, Ob3). They then check in on the Agora Council and as they expect they deny the villagers scent border liquid. They fetch the box and Lucius is VERY curious about the content. Later in the afternoon he even tries to see what's inside since the box isn't that well made. He quickly realizes that the box is not that heavy and that the thing inside must be much smaller than the box since there is much free room inside the box. He even begin to suspect that it's empty but that can't be so he reckon the thing inside is quite flat.
The next morning they meet up with the philosophers at the gate, pick up their weapons and leave to get Aeneas's belly shooter prototype from his workshop. THe three other philosophers are older and quite grumpy about the coming trip and the sparse resources.
At the workshop a nicely but simple dressed civilian mouse catches up with them. He looks like a slave or foreman of some rich mouse and says that he has something important to tell them. He insists on that the thing can't leave Sapientia because Navalia will do whatever they need to to get their paws on it and that can't be because then everything will go downhill and nothing will be like before. When they ask who he is and who has sent him he refuses to answer. Gaius now gets really angry with him as he takes it as a threat and draws his sword and tells the mouse that outside the cities it's The Pretorian Guard who has jusrisdiction and he better tell who he is and who sent him. The mouse still refuses but scared back away and quickly leaves.
Aeneas order his workers to get the pieces for the belly shooter prototype. Meanwhile he and Lucius discusses and although Aeneas refuses to tell what's in the box he can't keep himself from telling htat it's something with cogwheels and that if Lucius listen while he turns the box back and forth he will hear the cogs click inside. Lucius hears nothing and now realizes that there actually are nothing or at least not what should be in the box (Check: Passed Scientist versus Deceiver 5D). At first Aeneas doesn't believe him but when he listen for himself he realizes the same and order the box to be opened and as expected it is empty except for a nailed down copper plate in the bottom to make it a little heavy.
They check with the militia but they are totally convinced that no one has tampered with the box under their care. Aeneas gets very upset since someone must have bribed at least one worker to tamper with the thing and the box and orders all workers to start searching for the real thing and after a while they luckily find the real thing in its' locked down box that should have been hidden inside the regular box. Relieved they place the real box in the regular box and close it again. Aeneas also order his foreman to find out who hasn't been to work lately. That ought to be the bribed worker. They decide to leave immediately after reporting to the guard captain that the missing thing is no longer missing.
They try to march on but that's not easy with three grumpy philosophers and one overloaded slave but they manage to get to the bigger village close to the heron area without problems (Check: Passed Deceiver verus Deceiver 4D). Gaius almost gets robbed of their extra money from The Guard but feels when his belt is touched and turns around but in the wrong direction and the thief escapes. They realize that it most have been professionals since someone most have distracted them, especially Gaius and only one of them ran for the door so one of them is left in the tavern's dining room (End of Player's Turn).  
illern (a) illertass,se