The Necessity of Travel

You all have your own reasons for leaving. They aren't reasons that just suddenly happened. They've been at the back of your minds for a while now, but last night, when the village elders called everyone out to discuss the food situation, it sort of pulled everything to a head. Even with as bad as things had been going, it hadn't really occurred to you - or to anyone else - how dire the situation had really gotten.

Winter was three months away, and the harvest was half what it had been the previous year. And last year had been bad. Last week, the head cleric of the church packed up and left. His pack was found on the side of the road a couple days later. Where he went, no one knows. There were many complaints from villagers that they had nothing left after last year. Many of the villagers relied on the traders for coin, even though they came only once a year.

For a month, the inn would be bursting at the seams, and that money would be used to pay taxes and used to fill up stores before the traders left. The Blacksmith too, made good coin, repairing the traders wagons. Oxana was often able to use the scraps to craft smaller pieces that she could sell. Now, with no traders, there was no coin, and people hoarded what little they did have. The village elders discussed how to pool resources, but not everyone was enthusiastic about sharing what little they had.

Even what used to be considered the easy things - food from wildlife and herbs for healing - were not as plentiful. The village used to have the younger girls help out in collecting herbs, but it's now almost a day's travel to find anything, and they can't be sent that far. Even the wildlife seems to have left for somewhere better, leaving the hunters to travel further and further. So at the meeting last night, the elders encouraged the younger ones, the ones in good health, to assist in the exploration to find new hunting grounds and more prolific forests. There was no arrangement, no organization, just a request.

And so, on the following morning, once the sun was high enough in the sky not to be in your eyes, each of you decided to go - though your reasons for going all varied from what the elders asked.

The road you set out on stretches far ahead, further than even the horizon you can see. Those of you that have traveled before know that it stretches out even further than you've gone, though in reality you know you haven't really ever been very far at all. You travel between patches of scrub and half-dead grass that looks much the same as it did when the last snows melted a couple months ago, along a road that is starkly different in its pristine condition. Whoever built this road built it so that the rains - even as paltry as they come now - wash it clean, and the workmanship is something to marvel at. It's been here longer than the elder's grandfathers, but even it is showing signs of wear - a small crack here, the symbol of the Imperial Forge worn halfway away there.

There's not much new to look at for a couple hours, and then around late morning, a smaller road forks off to the northwest. A small wooden sign which can only be read from the other direction proclaims it to be the road to Agnon's Wood. It's a day's travel there, some of you know, but it could be worth it. On the other hand, as Oxana says, they may not have much to trade either. The blight upon the ground doesn't give much clue how far it spreads, and they are very near the Great Ice.

Do you stay on the main road, or go to visit Agnon's Wood?

You could see smoke from the village by now, normally. There is none at the moment. You're not exactly sure what this means. You know that back home, things are bad enough that everything is being rationed for winter, even firewood. It might be that bad in Agnon's Wood as well. The road to the village hasn't ever been a well-traveled one, and nothing is growing well, not even the weeds that would normally cover up an unused road. That makes it hard to tell if people just aren't using it, or if the weeds are dying. Small blessing, perhaps.

The road to Agnon's Wood is mostly dirt and rock, and grows rockier as you go, so that by the time the tiny village is in sight in the middle of what was probably at one time a plentiful and sprawling fruit grove, it feels like the rocks have decided to cut out the middleman and simply stab you in the feet directly. The village is still there in front of you, a series of small, simple dwellings circled around one central circle of grass. But still, there's no smoke. And no people. Nothing is moving in the entire village. There's also a lack of any detritus that would normally accompany desertion, and there's no visible signs of violence.

Tatiana and Oxana explore several houses and come up with the following info.

The village definitely ran out of food. There's nothing in any of the pantries, and no meat hanging out behind the butchers, not even scraps. However, there's a working kiln and a small pile (1d6+1) iron ingots near it. Those should be usable somehow. The strange thing is, and you've found this in more than one house, are notes left, some to loved ones, some to children, some to 'whoever might find this' that all speak of going north into the mountains, where apparently according to these various people, 'a bounteous feast awaits.'

There's not much daytime left now. Shadows are already starting to stretch out into the central plaza. If you don't stay here, you'll end up camping on the road. That might not be safe, but then... neither might staying be.

What will you do?

As the sun dips low over the western horizon, you hunker down in the best house you can find. The dwelling had stood many years and been enlarged more than once. There's not a lot of personal belongings left now, but whoever owned this house had been - up until recently at least - very well off. Tatianna takes a few minutes to make dinner as Johnsan leaves to go look for more food.

After dinner, you realize Johnsan is still not back. Where could he be? It's probably not a good idea to go looking for him at night, but what will happen to him if you wait until morning?

As the night wears on, everyone takes a turn at watch. It's not until the late hours of night, with the stars starting to slowly fade in the east, that Brother Irwin sees Johnsan at a distance, struggling back up the trail, dragging the carcass of a ten-point buck.

---

Now that Johnsan's back, and has food, what's the plan? Is there anything else to be learned here? Probably. Is it safe to stick your nose into the weirdness? That's up to you. What do you do now?

The smoking process is fairly straightforward, but it will mean spending at least another day in this empty village, and closer to two if you want to smoke all the meat it contains. That means a day of downtime. What's everyone else doing during this time?

Suddenly, as you're all trying to keep up with Johnsan ahead of you, he comes crashing through a line of trees to your left, dragging along a young woman with him. She seems to be in a stupor, not responding to anything. Meanwhile, up ahead of you, the figure you've been following is suddenly less distinct, and if you try to look directly at him, he vanishes from your view. This fact alone makes it hard for you to chase him, but his clothes have also changed, and he blends in with the forest better than he did a few moments ago.

You get back to the lodge you were staying at and quickly gather your gear. When you go to take a look at the deer, though... Well. It was meat. But now you're glad you didn't get it smoked all the way to be able to eat it, for what is hanging above the smoker is an old, fat, man. You're not sure what reviles your senses more, the way the man looks after being half-smoked, or the fact that it still smells good enough to eat.

Do you take time to cut him down or is it simply time to flee?

The women leave, relinquishing the job of burying the man - whoever he was - to the men. There's no other sightings of anyone at all, save the stranger who's still mostly in a fugue state. She wanders around the village while you dig, and by the time you're done she's come back with a small puzzle box and a teddy bear. She clutches both of them tightly to her chest, but doesn't say anything about where she found them or why they're apparently so important to her.

But the job is soon done nonetheless. Jorgen, Johnsan, and Brother Irwin follow in Tatianna's and Oxana's footsteps, and are back at the village by dusk. You're met by friends and relatives, but it's clear that the village can't support you for long.

Tatianna, Jorgen, what about you guys?

There's various small signs that the village is trying to stay positive in the face of hardship. The old widow at the southern end of the village, Editha, still plants her flowers around her cottage, though Tatianna knows for a fact she's walking nearly a mile each way to get new ones when those wither. On your way in you passed a new house being built - they're trying to replace one of the ones that fell last winter, and let Alden and Ravenel have their own place again. They were married last year but have been staying with her parents again since snow collapsed their roof. Several other families were moved in to the old monastery when the head priest left, so Brother Irwin has to stay at the inn along with Jorgen. There's no one else using those rooms. The woman you brought back with you is put in the room next to you, but you can tell from the looks you get that no one really wanted you to bring an extra mouth to feed back with you.

After what is almost a full night's sleep, you're awoken by a large crash and shouts of dismay. The bell in the village square begins ringing not even a minute later. Rousing yourselves, you arrive outside to see the frame of the new house collapsed. Ravenel is beside herself. "Alden was working on the flooring for the bedroom! Someone get him out of there!"

Your new companion is roused too, but waits at the door of the inn, not exactly sure where she is or what she should do.

Tatianna joins the group of villagers trying to clear the rubble. Throwing wood off of the pile is probably a good idea, but you need to do it in the right order. Tatianna isn't experienced at clearing rubble, though, so it's not surprising that one of the pieces she moves causes a few more to slip. She's either going to get hurt, or make it harder for someone else to finish clearing the mess.

The whole rescue attempt becomes a mad scramble as you try to get to Alden before he's crushed by the house. Fortunately, though some of the debris starts to slide, it slides away from where Alden is, partially uncovering him. After that, you're able to make quick work of the rest of the pile, and soon have him pulled free. He's unconscious, but breathing.

Oxana takes a moment to examine the remains of the house. It doesn't take her long to discover why the thing fell down. The wood that was used, probably out of desperation, is old and dry, and would never hold the weight of a roof like young, strong timber would. It's just another sign that things are going badly for the village.

Do you feel as if there's more you can or should accomplish here, or does it seem like it's a better idea for everyone if you head out again?

As Brother Irwin waits at the hill...

You set off in the direction of the smoke. There's smaller roads that you can follow for a while, and then trails for a while longer. You pass the remnants of what used to be far-flung farms where the village's crops would be grown and then sold in the village market, but the crops that grow on these farms now are twisted and wizened, a paltry shadow of their former glory. You might be able to spend all day here and find enough food for one person.

As the farms fall behind, you find the forest growing taller around you, starting with the occasional shrub or bush a ways off, to more and more growing right up against the paths, and then as the paths get narrower, it becomes hard to tell if you're on one at all. Fortunately the smoke is a ready marker, so high above you, but even it becomes obscures are the trees close in and the older, taller growth covers the sky except for bit and pieces of sun stabbing through.

It's late afternoon and the shadows from the trees are starting to slowly overcome the glimmers of light from above. The paths are starting to become harder to follow and the combination of the two proves to be a dangerous - almost deadly - one. The ground beneath your feet is a bit spongy and... weird. Almost as if it's... wet?

Johnsan didn't notice it in time to warn anyone, so before you know it, all of you, barring Johnsan, are standing in the middle of a bog, and one wrong step could mean that you sink into what might otherwise look like solid ground. How are you going to get out of this bog without drowning in the earth?

@GameMaster

I think the most interesting thing I could tell you is that a lot of the trees right here are dead. Very dead. There's also a termite mound about fifty feet away.

Oxana manages to pull Tatiana out of the mire, and with Johnsan's quick thinking, a nearby tree is buoyant enough to let him and Irwin climb out. You're all a bit worse for the wear and extremely muddy. There's not really anywhere convenient to stop to rest, but once you're back on solid ground you realise just how much weight you're carrying in mud, so you're going to have to make a choice - camp here and let the mud dry so you can scrape it off, or press on, hoping not to run into more of the same in the gathering darkness.

It's as you're discussing this that you notice the small opening in the nearby hillside. It's only big enough to crawl into, but perhaps it opens up more on the other side.

This is something I did not think about personally when I was having you start off, although I did place them in the rules. So here's what we'll do. You do, somewhere in the group, have a tinderbox. You'll have to forage for wood, normally, although there are lots of dead trees around as already stated, so it'll be easy to find wood for the fire tonight.

---

Beyond the small opening, there's nothing else that would really serve as shelter, but at least it's not raining, right?

Ideally, if you're going to make a cave your shelter, you'd probably want to ensure that no one - or nothing - else was trying to do the same. Fur clumps or shed skin could indicate that there was a beast that made this cave its home. Leftover, worn tools, or paintings could indicate that a man lived here. Thankfully you find neither. There's a curtain of moss and ivy that hangs along the rear of the cave, where the rock is close to the ground before it rears up, making nearly enough space to stand - but not quite. There are old scorch marks on the ceiling. Someone must have been stupid enough to start a fire under the arcing overhang at some point long ago. They would have smoked themselves out, no matter who they were, and there's none of the wood left, so it had to have been ages ago.

So you have a choice.

The cave is indeed, just a small hole in the side of the hill. There's no openings in the rock, and all the poking that Oxana does makes that very clear. It might not be the most comfortable, but it's going to be safe at least. There's not, however, a lot of option other than close to the entrance though. This hole is not that deep. There's room for the four of you to lie down in a row, and for you to put your packs at your feet, or perhaps on the side, and that's it. You're not all bunched up on each other, but you're not more than a couple feet apart.

Johnsan and Irwin make a ramshackle line of pointy sticks that will surprise anyone that comes close. By that time everyone's hungry, so you eat what little you have and settle in for the night. Each of you agrees to take a watch, and then you're asleep, save for the watcher.In fact, you haven't slept this good for days, not even in the village. You awaken refreshed, but still in the dark. By the time the sun hits the entrance to the cave, it's mid-morning for everything that wasn't in the shadow of a high hill. By that time, you've all managed to have breakfast, and you can't help but notice that there are plants growing here. Probably not enough to support a whole village, but enough to replenish your supplies. So you have a decision to make. Do you want to push ahead with your journey, or should you pause here to try to collect more food for rations?

Oxana, Johnsan, what are you guys doing while the other two are foraging?

Everyone spreads out to search. At first, it doesn't seem like there's much around that's edible, despite the overwhelming greenery that you see around you. It's not until Tatianna points out a small group of three bushes nearby that you find something really good. The trees are smaller, but their leaves are familiar to her as plum leaves, so you go to check out the trees and find there are small plums hanging from the branches of the bushes. They're much smaller than you're used to seeing, but they seem good to eat.

You gain 5 rations' worth of fruit. Unfortunately, it's not until you have all the available fruit picked off the trees that you realize that one of the trees is a vale plum. While the birds and other animals live vale plums, they are potentially - though not always - poisonous to humans. They're also identical to the other fruit.

The interesting thing is that you've all probably had the purple runs before. When someone inadvertently uses Vale Plums in a pie or something, everyone who eats it gets sick, but it doesn't really hurt you. On the other hand, those who have eaten the fruit directly off the trees or, at least raw, have had a far worse time, fever, delusions, etc.

Seems like it's leaning toward leaving them and continuing on. Oxana, Johnsan, what do you guys think?

Who's leading this time? And who's scouting?

The fact that the trees are growing denser and the way the land rises soon means that the smoke is lost from sight. You continue in the way you think you were going originally, but then the trees suddenly part and you come out onto a narrow strip of grassland, about 100 feet wide. At the other end of the grass is a high, sharp cliff that drops off precipitously into the sea.

On a normal day, that view of the water so far below and the sea that stretches to the horizon would command your attention for a good while. But today is not a normal day, for just a few feet from the edge of the cliff is a black stone gateway. The stone is so black you can barely even see it in the full light of day. It's clearly been there for quite some time. Some of the stonework that surrounds it has fallen off into the sea as the ground was eroded away from under it. It was definitely of some import once upon a time, though, because someone took the time to carve intricate inscriptions across every face of it's surface - and inlay it with silver.

Oxana checks around the gate as it lays dormant, and everything appears to be safe - as long as you, you know, don't step off the edge of the cliff. I'm not sure I can be 100% helpful here, Oxana, but I'll give you some info anyway. One of the reasons the village resisted having the abbey at first was because of a deep-seated belief that writing things down locked them in and didn't let them change. ((OOC: There's a similar thing in real life, which I'm only mentioning as a touchstone for understanding the depth of this. Some cultures do NOT want their photograph taken, believing it steals their soul.)) It's much the same with writing here. If you write THINGS down, they are locked in whatever state you wrote about them. If you wanted to be free, you couldn't have written records. That was several generations ago, and the abbey doesn't write about local people anyway, so people stopped caring so much. But they still remembered and passed it down. But perhaps that belief didn't come from nowhere. Because as you can see here, the ONLY thing that hasn't withered away or eroded or broken down is this gate with ALL THE WORDS. How is this useful? Perhaps it's not immediately. Perhaps it's just a piece of information to hold on to. But you do know now that because if all the words, it won't fall off the cliff. In fact, it might not even fall when the cliff finally does.

@Ysolde,@GameMaster - Are you sure it's safe to let them just wander around the cliff and the gate like that?

Irwin, that would be the right move, if it got that far, but your fingers brush against the etchings and the silver flares to life like the edge of a cloud after a summer rainshower. The effect spreads from where you touch it until every letter around the entire gate is glowing softly. As the last rune begins to glow, the seascape that you could see through the gate is replaced by land. And what land. Green as far as you can see, tall lush grass, a flowery meadow, and a thick forest that borders it on both sides.

As you step through the gate, you feel an odd sensation run through him. It's hard to explain, but if you ask someone to put their palm up against yours and then take your thumb and forefinger and run them down the backs of both hands at once, that should get pretty close. Is it because the air is different? Perhaps the sunshine is ever so slightly brighter. Whatever it is, the tiny jolt you experience from the ground being a couple inches lower here removes it from your mind before you can dwell too much on it.

It's just as beautiful here as when you saw it from the other side. You can look back and see the others sort of hanging there in the air, a couple inches off the ground but you do not see a gate.

He's fine. There's nothing in the way of seeing back and forth or of communicating. That specific piece of air just goes somewhere it's not really meant to go.