Rotvalan Reveries Ep17: Intermission: Carnaval de la Muerte

 Run Date: September 22, 2024

PCs
Helena: Lv4 Bladedancer (WasteThatWalks)
Lysalia: Lv1 Witch
Francisco: Lv1 Fighter

Hench
Lothor: Lv1 Vaultguard
Eduardo: Lv1 Mage

Intermission: Carnaval de la Muerte

With the Bloodmoon and raid of Nota Rosa wrapped up, the group set out to find some new fighters to fill their weakening ranks. The session began on the first day of Carnaval de la Muerte (keeping with the sloppy Spanish theme): a festival that celebrates when the Lady Iona laid down her sword for the harvest and the people united to kill the monsters in their midst. Salkana (the world) has major holidays slotted into the Solstices and Equinoxes, so our Halloween is a bit earlier than expected. Moreover, I want each festival to bring with it some extra effects. Back in Summer, every Rotvalan town had +1 Market Class. I decided to get a little more granular with this one, taking inspiration from Sinkholes/Places of Power.

During the Carnaval de la Muerte, and until Nov 1st, the following items have +1 MC Availability: Belladonna, Garlic, Holy Water, and Wolfsbane. In addition, Silvered Weapons increase their cost/value by 10%.

The season brings a shift that favors the evil and chaotic, granting the following effects:

• Rebuke rolls suffer a -2 penalty (does not effect HD turned)
• Death/Necro Magic Research gains a +1 bonus and associated spells are cast at +2 Class Levels
• Tampering With Mortality rolls suffer a -2 penalty

There was a little conversation about the specifics of the session, but the first step was pushing to Rostock while avoiding Coxhaven for fear of being spotted as wanted criminals. On the road, the party encountered a group of tollkeepers with a hastily setup “gatehouse.” Lysalia dolled herself up to play the role of a traveling noble and took the lead in negotiations. As luck would have it, the leader was quite taken by her, explaining that the toll was a mere 5 gold. The group paid their dues and pressed on into Rostock.

Upon arriving at the gates, the party began inquiring about their little engagement on the road. The guards were not the least bit helpful, especially with how Helena worded the incident. Moreover, they were busy managing the influx of travel for the first day of the Carnaval. The party passed on and Francisco suggested they stay. He wanted to burn a hefty amount of GP for Reserve XP, and what better time to do it?

ACKS doesn’t have “storygame” style rules for Carousing/Drinking/Etc so I pulled out the Carousing Tables from the Low Fantasy Gaming Companion. About half the session time was consumed with the wild bar crawl and frankly, a lot of fun. The PCs dressed as various monsters and joined the masses in drinking and “slaying” the various fake monstrosities roaming the plaza. Helena and Francisco got involved in a classic knife game, earning Francisco a few cuts and some bonus Reserve XP. Francisco hired on some traveling bards to follow him around for the evening and sign his praises; they soon wandered off and came back with some magic mushrooms (which the party declined). As the night wore on, a faux witch-burning took place and the group got split up. Francisco woke upon a bucket without his pants in some abandoned shack; his stomach was raging from something he’d eaten the previous night. Helena was hungover on one of the side avenues. Lysalia was comfortable in the inn room (she didn’t partake in illicit substances for recreational purposes).

With the fun out of the way, Helena wanted to confront the tollkeepers on the road. They set out back to the location and found the crew right where they’d left them. The captain recognized the party and was happy to let them by without being taxed again, but Helena pushed them. Her interrogation shifted the friendly interaction into hostilities (and we had an argument about surprise, multiple groups, etc).

During the battle, Francisco charged into the men on the ground with his lance. Between himself and his horse, it was a near complete sweep. From within the makeshift walls of the “gatehouse” a hail of arrows plucked him. Francisco stood firm, barely. Lothor began to try and break down the door, but couldn’t make his dungeonbashing check. Meanwhile, Lysalia attempted to position herself for Words of Command. Eduardo managed to launch a few Mage Missiles before getting silenced by an arrow; Helena had tried to protect him and failed.

A few minutes later the enemy attempted to flee, hoping to abandon their brethren to grim fates. None of them escaped. After the battle, the party finally broke down the doors and found a small camp within; along with a bulk of the taxes they’d picked up. A mage must have passed through at some point because they also found a scroll with a couple of spells.

Finally, the party weighed hunting down the home of the bandits or focusing on building their own power. They favored the latter and began the trek to Rotval, the capitol city of Rotval.

Rewards (Totals)

315 XP
87 GP

Scroll (Arcane, Common): Sling Stone, Slicing Blow

Afterword

This was a session with a lot of narrative and a nice break from managing the previous events. The party made it to Rotval and we managed some downtime in the background, and I sent out inquiries to a couple people I know regarding how Serif Georgio and Don Serrano would respond. Why, you may ask, did I do that? I wanted to outsource the choice to someone else and adjudicate it.

Serif Georgio complained about the raid to the Don. The Benevolent Hand was brought in to assist with caring for the wounded with the caveat that any wounded would be slapped with Wolfsbane and treated with a tincture; any infected survivors would burn at the stake.

Don Serrano’s orders were simple: rally some of his men and destroy these arrogant raiders. I ruled this required a minimum of a week to organize, with any trailing banners coming in to remain in defense of Coxhaven proper.

With the commands in place, I began resolving the Siege of the Shrine of the Golden Sun. Several henches and a PC or two that had missed sessions were in the ranks, but the Raiders were outnumbered just over 2:1. The walls that Helena had built provided every advantage it could, but they were soon overwhelmed. Ryder parlayed for surrender with demands for a trial befitting his formerly noble status, and the enemy commander accepted. Ryder, Gwen, and the various henchmen are now in the dungeons. However, Don Serrano has accepted the surrender terms and placed Ryder under house arrest. What will happen in the future? Time will tell. Special thanks to the Don and Serif for their commands.

That’s all for now. Take care.