Rust Valley Chronicles

A low-point campaign.

Background

In the arid Iron Hills southeast of Zareph, hardscrabble mining communities are multitudinous, some going back a thousand years or more. Rich deposits are coveted and protected by calloused and weary townfolk, and precious-metal-hunting bandit troupes add an ancillary industry.

One community, Rust Valley, home to four hundred human souls, is nestled in the cleft of three prominent foothills north of The Fangs. Dozens of mines, most abandoned, litter the countless canyons, chasms, edifices, slopes and valleys of the area.

Zareph has no standing here. The local "government", such as it is, currently consists of Lefty Laduke, a one-handed strongman whose leadership is limited to bullying and violence.

Nevertheless, families have resided here for many generations. The spring water is tasty and reliable, ranching and farming and hunting adequate, and at least some local mines are moderately productive, producing iron and copper ore and the occasional ruby deposit.

This is your family home.

Character Creation

Any deviation from the below will require up to 50 points to be spent on Unusual Background, at the discretion of the GM.

Background

You are a life-long human resident of Rust Valley. You have heard of magic but never seen it. Your skills are limited to those that are reasonable for a medieval mining community.

You are either a miner or a relative of a miner.

Mechanics

These are 80 point characters.

Define your name, age/gender and role in this small mountain community.

You have a unique value to be in this party - what is it?

You have minimum one Dependent -- a family member or other person for whom you are responsible for protecting. Spend the points and define him/her/them.

You may not have any primary attribute higher than 13.

You may take no more than -30 points in Disadvantages and -5 points in Quirks.

You may not take any Supernatural or Esoteric advantages or disadvantages. These are regular folk in a hard world.

"Free" traits on all characters (no need to document):

• You have an implied disadvantage of Wealth - Struggling.
• You have an implied skill of Area Knowledge at IQ level.
• Quirk-level Greed -- the poverty culture of the community values determination and acquisition.

Characters

Dirk Dirksen, played by Josh Boo, played by Blair ?, played by Darren ?, played by Kam ?, played by Andy Mac Gyver, played by Ernest ?, played by Melissa

Mac Gyver

Dirk Dirksen

Session 1 Prelude

Yesterday, two of you were moving rocks to improve access to a shaded alcove in the vicinity of three minimally productive silver mines. While taking an afternoon break, a man unexpectedly tumbled down the steep hill above and flopped at your feet.

He was exotic, with leather-colored skin, and serpentine purple tattoos. His gear was rugged, but made in a style you'd never seen, stylized and ornate. He was equipped with a long curved scabbard, but had no sword. His neck and face and hands were striped with some sort of pulsing toxin, and he struggled to maintain his composure through the pain and seizures he was evidently experiencing.

Just before he exhaled for the last time, the exotic stranger said, "Above the waterfall of flowers, there is a blackened edifice... behind that, the treasure... below...."

The stranger possessed a wrinkled map showing mountain ranges and cities far outside your familiarity. But Zareph and The Fangs you know, and it can only be wondered what local knowledge he acquired to identify the location of the treasure... which may soon be yours.

What Happened

Embarkation, Adventure

Boo and Mac are moving rocks near a mine above the village, when the stranger landed with a thump. After hearing his last words, they resolved to keep the secret between them and go back to town to attend to obligations before heading out to investigate the supposed treasure.

In the village, the menfolk are drinking an alcoholic concoction around the fire at sunset, like always.

Boo and Mac decide to recruit Dirk Dirksen, because he's easy to fool but inexplicably lucky. He's also indecisive, and says he needs to sleep on it, so the duo offers to leave a train of cairns to allow him to catch up.

Rose Tillot, miner and lover

A day later, Boo and Mac are high above the village and encounter a troop of bandits who hold them up. Penniless, they steal Mac's dagger and carry on.

The following day, they run into renegade miner Rose Tillot and her henchmen, Grzzt and Hubbardin. Mac flirts with the lovely redhead, and she invites him back to her camp, leaving Boo with the henchmen.

After a brief conversation, lovemaking commences, whereafter Rose sends a signal to Grzzt to dispatch Boo. Boo is uncooperative in this regard, entangles the enormous half-orc with his whip, and subsequently bashes him with his enormous yoke. Grrzt stays down, and the little mongrelman scampers off.

The foursome decide to join forces, and the next day hike further up into the foothills towards the 'waterfall of flowers', which Rose claims is a place she often skinny-dips.

They arrive at sunset the next day, and sure enough she strips and dives into the warm waters surrounded by lovely flowers and accompanied by the patter of a steaming waterfall. Boo joins her after Mac announces he's off to hunt some dinner. While he's away, Boo is treated to Rose's talents and graces as well -- a first for him.

After a restful night's sleep, the party awakens to discover there are what appears to be spiderwebs stretched across the little pond, including strands attached their blankets.

An Ally, and Disaster

Swedgey, hideous goat-woman

With some difficulty, Boo and Mac slays the four giant spiders that descend upon the party, though is unable to protect poor Hubbardin from being fatally drained of vital fluids.

Shortly after the battle, a hideous goat-woman named Swedgey scampers into camp, tears open one of the enormous spiders, and presents its dripping egg sac to her "new master", Boo. It seems she was a slave to an expedition of Easterners on a quest to raid the tomb of Ragnar, but their group was annihilated by "mountain soldiers", and she alone escaped. Wired for servitude, she has chosen Boo to dominate her.

A grouchy Rose is repulsed by the goat-creature, but likes the idea of being led to the site of the demise of the Easterners, and so the party treks higher into the mountains.

The next day, the party arrives at the scene. Scavengers have shredded the questers' remains, but a few choice items are plucked from the wreckage and the party carries on towards a dark cliff that Swedgey says is the site of the tomb.

During the climb, Boo takes a tumble and decides to take a long switchback instead. Swedgey joins him, leaving Mac and Rose to forge ahead across a rough slop of rocks.

Eventually the forward duo spot men with long spears hiding in the rocks above.

As Boo and Swedgey approach, singing like harmonious angels, Mac gives into to his impulsivity and stealthfully creeps up into the rocks above to assassinate one of the soldiers. A battle ensues, with Rose arriving just as a second soldier attacks. Boo charges up the hill to help and enters the fray. Crippling injuries are received, but the two strange soldiers are defeated.

Unfortunately, both Boo and Mac succumb to their injuries and fall unconscious after the battle.