The Goblin Fire Market

The expedition got to Winooski in the afternoon. They were allowed in by the goblins and welcomed by Bugeater, the goblin chief, a creature of spindly leg, wide carriage, and great decorum. They also met the Paquettes, who had a trading post set up not far from the goblin settlement.

When the Fire Market began, William saw an overcoat with impressive artwork. He haggled with the goblin merchant and she got the better of him. He got the coat, but he had to give his own over and promise help her learn to read, a task he immediately decided to pass on to his assistant at the library.

Devon, who had little affection for the goblins, was left at the expedition's tent to haggle with the passersby. He was approached by Wirenose, a goblin who claimed to be able to smell copper wire, even through sheetrock. Wirenose wanted to go into the Champlain Mill, the one building in Winooski yet to be mined. No one would dare go with him because of the darkness of the place. Wirenose produced a coil of wire and gave it to Devon in exchange for Devon's promise to accompany him to the Mill the next day.

Anna and Spit found themselves confronted by Bugeater and his retinue. Bugeater began negotiations for opening up trade by demanding all of Burlington.  Anna countered by offering simply to trade. Bugeater, ever the cunning merchant, agreed. This seemed to rankle Alan Paquette, who had taken a liking to the goblins. Alan saw them as no different than humans; they wanted to live peacefully and well. He expressed his concern to Spit, saying that he hoped that Burlington would consider giving the goblins protected land to farm, something he had hoped would be part of the evening's negotiations.

As the Fire Market came to a close, Bugeater offered hospitality to the expedition, which they accepted. They found themselves among the goblin elite, including a lively, funny storyteller called Nice Eyes. Devon got the group to agree to go with him to the Mill, except for Anna, who decided to return the next day to Burlington to speak with Lady Limoge about how to continue.

The Expedition Prepares

While Spit and William were busy being harassed by merchants, investigating old photos and fighting dead dogs, Anna was talking to Devon, a blacksmith, about repairing the clasps on Spit's backpack. Anna decided to invite Devon to the expedition because of the resources he had for trade (common tools that would be welcomed by the goblin settlement).

The following morning, Anna and William met with Alison Limoge. William made it known that the Governor approved of the expedition and had appointed him as its leader. While Lady Limoge was clearly not thrilled, she made no complaints.

The four members of the expedition, Anna Flynn, William Keeting, Spit and Devon, met later in the day to discuss their strategies. It was decided that William would get them in to the settlement and Anna would manage the trade agreements.

The expedition would arrive a couple hours before the the Fire Market - time enough to set up and talk to the goblin chief, Bugeater.

Dead Dogs

William Gates Keeting (named after noblity from the past) is a noble in Burlington. His expertise is research and collecting information from before the Deluge. He was recently on an expedition that was attacked by spirits of nightmare. Long arms and jagged claws reached out of the rain and people panicked, but not William. His calm demeanor let him see through the chaos of the attack to realize that running would not work. He had to fight, so he did. Using a relic axe, he single-handedly fought off the spirits. From that point on, he has been rethinking his role as a scholar.

William was called to an audience with Governor Welch. She told him about Allison Limoge's expedition. She wanted him to take command of the expedition in her name. While she approved of Limoge's hope for trade rather than conflict, she did not appreciate being kept out of the loop. William was to support Anna Flynn, but also to remind everyone that Welch was the Governor, not Limoge. William heard that the boy who had run through Winooski had been approached by Flynn, so he went to speak with him.

William found Spit in the Common Tales, obviously flustered and angry at one of the merchants who had been making fun of his name. William intervened and the two got to talking about why Spit had come to Burlington. Spit showed him the photo and the two went to the library so William could study the piece better. While he didn't recognize anyone in the photo, he could pin down the place: St Francis Xavier, in Winooski.

A crash from down the hall interrupted the study. William went to investigate, with Spit cautiously following. They were totally surprised when a dead dog walked out of the kitchen and silently attacked them. It leaped on William and forced him down. Spit stabbed at it, pushing it back, and William shook and ripped the feeble thing apart.

They went through the library, wondering how the dog had got in. As they passed the front doors, they saw through the glass that someone had been caught and killed by more dead dogs. The body was propped up against the door, blocking it. William and Spit went after the dogs and discovered a small pack of them. The two fought them off and warned the militia of the threat. The man at the doors, killed by the dogs, was one of William's assistants.

The two were taken to the Healer's Hall and patched up from their fight. The next day they will set off for Winooski.

It's Raining Again

Due to technical difficulties, my Rain group had to stop. But I've started up with a different group and I'm very excited about it. We're meeting every other Monday, so I'll be posting at least twice a month to chronicle the game.

Andrew James Spitzer, known as "Spit," walked from Alburgh to Burlington. His home had been destroyed by Elves three years ago and he has been wandering the Wilds. He's 18 now, and after this long time decided to follow the one bit of something that ties him to his family (all killed in the attack) - an old picture of his parents, much younger, and a man whom he doesn't recognize. On the back of the photo is the word "Tim."
 Spit walked down the hill from Colchester into Winooski. Through the trees and rain he saw that goblins had constructed a simple barricade. He crept close, but slipped and tore a hole in his backpack. The photo was safe, but he lost his knife, which slid down the hill in a rill of water that wound down through the grass and crumbling pavement. Before the goblins noticed it, he cast a spell that weakened and then shattered part of the barricade. He took off, running as fast as he could. Flew past the surprised guards, but was briefly mobbed. In the struggle, a spear got through and the jagged stone edge ripped open his side.
 Even wounded, Spit was too fast for the goblins. His spell cleared the way for him, and he ran, in pain and frightened, to Burlington, where he was welcomed and healed.

Anna Flynn, arrived in Burlington a year ago from New York, was summoned to the house of Lady Alison Limoge, the noble in charge of trade for the city. Anna, an explorer and diplomate, found herself in the midst of care and carefulness as she stood in the house's entry. All about her relics from before the Deluge were arranged, dusted, put out on display. A clock ticked, long-dead people looked out from old pictures. A kindly older man, dressed in pre-Deluge clothing, welcomed her in and led her to a sun room, now alive with the tapping of rain on carefully cleaned windows.
 She met Lady Limoge there, who directly spoke to her about the goblins in Winooski. They were there four months now, and the Lady saw an opportunity. They had disrupted commerce from St. Johnsbury and the Paquette Trading Post and Limoge believed that if something was not done soon, other nobles in Burlington would move against them with force. Unnecessary bloodshed.
 The noblewoman asked that Anna be her envoy and lead an expedition to Bugeater, the goblins' Chief with the intention of opening trade.
 Anna agreed and was told of a young man who had, just a week earlier, come through Winooski and may be of some help with the goblins.

Spit, well-rested and healing, was found by Anna in the Healer's Hall (formerly a mall). He was not thrilled to speak with her at first, believing her to be like the others that had come seeking reasons to go to war. When he learned the truth, he did offer to help - if Anna could get him a new backpack. A simple task for one of Anna's means, and so the deal was struck.

The Expedition at Lincoln

The group has left St. Johnsbury, traveling swiftly down the interstate. They came upon one of Farfoot's heralds, arms and legs pinned to a truck cab and its horn crammed into its throat. Little doubt of elven handiwork.

They passed Littleton and went on to Lincoln. They arrived just as the Common Tales should have been hitting their full stride. They found a blossoming massacre. The people were caught in the magic of the tales, but the elves were there running amongst them, cutting and and killing as they went with blissful smiles.

The heroes rushed in. Edmund was immediately faced with the elven witch that had marked him as her own on Halloween. She ran at him, waving her arms, then brought him into a kiss. Corwin and Gelias created a place of safety for the people to hide. Job wen seeking the elven leader and found him, torturing Farfoot to death. Job also noticed the banners of a red dragon hanging in the town, but they were slashed and ripped.

Edmund protected the people from the elves and stopped the slaughter. Gelias sent the elves away by enforcing the peace of the Common Tales and after learning some of their songs - ballads of murder and blood and rapture and bliss all blended together.

Job spoke secretly to Farfoot, who told him to seek Mezzeneztria. What would he meet there? "Power and knowledge."

The group now rests in Lincoln. The people are grateful, but also mourning their loss. Edmund reels from the unexpected kiss, and Gelias nurses a bitter hatred of the elves.

Yet Another Version

Rain has been changed. Again.

The mechanic of giving marks until ready to challenge a card was proving to be rough. The players felt like they weren't really making progress until the very end when the card was challenged. It made things confusing - is casting a spell a challenge? If so, to what? Or is it just for giving marks? What if there isn't anything to give marks to? And magic wasn't the only issue. Even the process of giving marks was murky - what can I do to give marks? If I'm in combat, can I land punches, or are they near misses?

So, new mechanic. The pdf for the rules is linked on the Rain page.

Game on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

DELUGE

I posted a discussion at Story Games asking for some help in looking for a font for Rain. Folks were very helpful, by the way, thought I'm still looking. In my request for help, I gave a brief description of Rain. I got a reply telling me about a game (a setting actually - it has no system associated with it) called DELUGE.

That setting, as it turns out, is very similar to Rain's. Very similar. Oh, well, just when you think you have an original idea, right?

I contacted DELUGE's publisher and received a very nice reply encouraging me to continue with Rain. Very kind of them!

In turn, I've updated my links. If you want to check out DELUGE, click on the VSCA link. You can get the PDF at RPG Now or from the Lulu Marketplace.