Originally, I planned for this project to be a 1:1 scale exploration game where each day I would play one in-game day. That worked just fine when my PCs were traveling, but quickly fell apart as I encountered exploration sites (= dungeons), and felt the need—both from a time management and word count perspective—to break the site exploration up into smaller bits. This week encompasses only two full days (Days 8-9). I will not be maintaining either the daily uploads (on my Substack) or the 1:1 nature of the game. Instead, I'll play each day as much as I can, or have time for, and upload here each Tuesday at 10am EST. Thanks for your support!
Day 8, Summer 14
The rain returned during the night, pelting the tents of the shepherds and turning the loamy soil into viscous black mud. Bargen met with Tara and Minerva at the edge of the Stake’s fields, equipped with a hefty spear and gear for traversing the ruin safely. Since the shepherd knew the way, Tara let him take the lead. Despite the rain, they made it within sight of the old ruin by dusk.
“We should scout around, make sure the goblins haven’t posted a watch or patrol,” the big shepherd informed the others quietly. “Don’t get too close though.”
“I’ll head south, closer to the ruins,” Tara volunteered. “I’ve done a bit of scouting before. I know what to do.”
“I’ll go east, then,” Minerva added.
“Meet back here,” Bargen said, then strode off to the west.
Minerva and Tara took their leave and headed in the indicated directions. The two women slowly and meticulously, under the cover of dusk, crept through the pinewood but saw nothing out of the ordinary. When they were certain there was nothing to see, the two turned back.
Bargen, however, was less accustomed to moving silent and unseen and was soon spotted by a large form perched high in a pine tree. The creature watched the man closely, and when he turned to head back to the meeting place, it followed, leaping from tree to tree.
“Anything?” Bargen asked as he approached the two women.
“No signs of movement at all,” Tara answered.
“Nothing on my end either,” Bargen reported. “We should settle for the night. The rain should give us some cover.
The three sat down, unaware of the lithe form watching them from the darkness of the treetops. When the three had lain down, the creature crept slowly down the tree and to the edge of camp. Something about the women lying with weapons nearby and the big man with his spear sitting against a tree trunk keeping watch set the big cat on edge. It watched the three for a long while, then shook its maned head and trotted quietly back into the darkness. There was easier prey afoot than armed adventurers. The explorers, however, had a restless night and could not shake the uneasy feeling of being watched.
Adventure (Bargen)
Oracle
Adventure (Tara)
Oracle
Adventure (Minerva)
Oracle
Adventure (all)
Resource Update
Day 9a, Summer 15
The rain clouds darkened overnight. By morning, thunder echoed violently over the treetops and lightning sizzled across the sky and down to strike the earth. The storm would have made travel difficult, but the old ruin was within sight and the three explorers carefully crept through the trees to the edge of the stone courtyard. The weather was a boon to the company, as it made their movements hard to see and impossible to hear as they walked beneath the imposing stonework arch.
The ruin was in much better condition than Minerva expected, though it had clearly gone unused for its original purpose for long years. Grass and weeds grew from the cracked paving. There was no indication of goblins, or any other living thing, within the courtyard and the weight of the place bore down on the three companions.
A single building took up the center of the back wall of the ruin, its entrance barred by a sturdy ironbound door. Tara stepped forward and pulled to no avail.
“The door is either stuck or locked,” the guide informed her companions over the sound of thunder.
“I can break it down,” Bargen said matter-of-factly.
“Won’t that make a lot of noise?” Minerva asked.
“Might,” the shepherd conceded. “Is there another way in?”
“Let me see if I can pick the lock,” Tara replied. “If I can’t get it open, you can try your luck.”
Tara knelt down in front of the door and slipped a set of lockpicks from her pocket. She quickly set to work, wiggling the metal pick carefully. After a few minutes, she stood up and shook her head. “No luck. Lock is unlike anything I’ve ever tried to pick before.”
“It is an old ruin,” Minerva said.
“Let me try,” Bargen rumbled. “Stand back.”
Tara and Minerva stepped back from the door and waited to see what the burly shepherd would do next. With a grunt, Bargen charged the door with his shoulder. It slammed inward, hanging from one hinge. The sound of the door breaking was covered by a loud peal of thunder.
Table
Adventure
Oracle
Inside, they found the building to be empty save for a wooden trap door. The trap door stood open, revealing a wooden ladder descending into the ground beneath the ruin.
“That explains why we never saw anyone,” Minerva said. “They are underground.”
“I guess that means we are going down there?” Bargen whispered uncertainly.
“There’s nothing for it,” Tara replied. “I’ll lead the way.”
Tara climbed down the ladder and lit her torch when she reached the bottom. The other two explorers followed her. At the bottom of the ladder, they discovered a square room of rough-hewn stone with a door of iron bars in the far wall. Tara held the torch aloft and illuminated the small room. A scraping of boot on stone caught their attention. Bargen pointed his spear toward the sound of the noise, while Tara drew her sword.
“Who’s there?” the burly shepherd growled. “Show yourself.”
A short, broad figure stepped out from behind a crumbling wooden shelf. Its green skin turned almost orange in the torchlight. The figure had large, round eyes and long, pointed ears beneath a worn leather cap. One hand gripped a rusty dagger, while the other held its stomach, blood pooling around the thick, dirty fingers.
“You!” Tara and Minerva said in unison.
The goblin uttered something in its own language and dropped the dagger to the floor. The wounded goblin soon followed, collapsing to its knees.
“It’s wounded,” Minerva observed. “Did you hit it?”
“No, maybe Iskan did when he drove it off from the flock.”
“What do we do with it?” Bargen asked, indifferent to the suffering of the goblin.
“Put it out of its misery?” Tara asked, considering the goblin as she would any wounded wild animal.
“We cannot just kill it!” Minerva objected. “Its wounded and poses no threat to us.”
Minerva stepped toward the goblin, reaching into her rune pouch as she moved. “I mean you no harm, goblin,” she whispered soothingly, hoping the goblin realized her intent was not to harm it.
“Minerva, no!” Tara whispered.
“Just cover me,” she replied without taking her eyes off the dying goblin.
The scholar holds the smooth cube in her hand and speaks the activating words. The rune glowed yellow, and when she touched the goblin, its green skin was suffused with gold. Within a moment, its breathing settled, the blood ceased to pour from the wound in its stomach.
“Now what are we going to do with it?” Tara demanded, irritated by the compassion Minerva had shown the goblin.
“We aren’t going to do anything to him.”
“How do you know it’s a male?” Bargen asked, confused.
“The rune I cast reveals a lot about the physiological components of a being. I know that he is male, for instance. I also know that the wound was recent and made from something far sharper than anything I’ve encountered. I also know that he is afraid, and while he might betray us, at the moment he means us no harm.”
“You got all that from that glow?” Bargen’s eyes were wide.
“I did. Rune magic is a multi-faceted field.”
“So, it was magic?” the shepherd was incredulous. “The stories all say it exists, but I’ve never seen it.”
“I hadn’t either,” Tara interjected. “Not until Minerva used it on me two days ago after a carcass hawk took a chunk out of my shoulder.”
Exploration Site Tables
Adventure (Minerva)
The goblin did not speak or make a move the whole time the humans were talking. He simply stared up at them with his big, pale green eyes in wonder. He did not resist when Tara cut a length from the rope she received from Lethon in Hempfield, nor when she bound his hands behind him. Bargen took the rusty knife and slipped it into his belt.
“I do not think the rope is necessary,” Minerva said. Tara ignored her.
“The door is locked,” Bargen called from the iron bars. “I don’t know if I can break through this one quietly.”
Tara led the goblin over and handed the lead rope and her torch to Bargen before crouching to inspect the lock.
“This one doesn’t look complicated; I’ll try to pick it.”
Within a few moments, the iron bars swung inward with a barely audible creak. Tara took the rope back from Bargen but let him bear the torch.
Adventure
Exploration Turn 1 Complete
Day 9b, Summer 15
Bargen took the lead through the door, holding his spear in one hand and the torch in the other. The iron door opened to a small corridor, only about a foot square. The next room was almost identical to the first, except it held sacks of rotted flour and grains instead of crates and shelves. Once the four were inside, Tara was quick to point out the lack of door or any other egress from the chamber.
“It’s a dead end?” she said, puzzled.
“We know the goblins get in and out somehow,” Minerva said. “Let me take a look around.”
Minerva searched the walls of the chamber, stopping at an oddly smooth portion of the otherwise rough-hewn rock. She pushed and felt a bit of give.
“I think I’ve found something,” she called to the others. “But there must be some kind of release around here. Look for anything that might be a lever or a button, or something.”
Bargen wandered the chamber, leading the goblin behind him. He found himself more occupied by the goblin and how he and Tara were treating him than to the task at hand and was relieved when Tara announced she’d found something from across the room.
“I think it’s a button,” Tara said. “I’m pushing it.”
She did, and an audible click resounded through the chamber. The smooth stone popped loose and swung open on well-oiled iron hinges.
“I’ve never seen such fine craftsmanship,” Bargen noted, running his fingers over the hinges before leading the goblin through the door.
“This place does seem a bit ahead of its time, doesn’t it?” Minerva pondered, speaking more to herself than the others.
Exploration Site Tables
Adventure (all)
Exploration Site Table
Exploration Turn 2 Complete
Tara and Minerva followed Bargen and the goblin into a second, smaller chamber. Standing before them, on the far side of the room, was another goblin. This one was glad in furs embedded with bones and carried a staff topped with the skull of a nightcrow and black feathers. The goblin’s skin was grayer than the captive, or the goblin they killed in the forest, and its hair was silver.
“I see you have finally arrived,” the goblin said in a serviceable, if broken, common tongue. “I have awaited your arrival for many days. Welcome home, Gra’zhev. You may untie him. He will cause you no grief while you are under my care.”
Minerva stepped forward and addressed the goblin priestess. “You have been waiting for us? I do not understand.”
“Ah, the scholar who is also a Rune mage,” the priestess said, smiling a broken toothed grin. “You will understand shortly, child.”
The priestess reached into a leather pouch at her side and drew out a gleaming crystalline cube etched with blood-red runes. She held the Rune out to Minerva and gestured for her to take it. Minerva did so and gazed with awestruck wonder at the Rune.
“Can you read it?”
“Mantēvomë. Seeing.”
“Indeed. It is an ancient Rune that took many years for me to master. Do you know what it does?”
“I suspect it is a Rune of prophecy,” Minerva answered, still staring at the cube.
“You would be correct,” the priestess said, with a hint of pride in her crackling voice. “You must have been an excellent pupil.”
“Why would you tell us this? The legends speak of the goblin clans as hating humans.”
“Because the Rune has given me a vision, and, not least, because the legends you speak of are only partly accurate. There were misanthropic goblin tribes long ago. They were all eradicated by an alliance between my people and yours.”
“Explain this one and his friend trying to kill us, then!” Tara shouted, tugging the goblin forward. “And then attacking a helpless shepherd girl.”
“Peace,” the goblin replied, calm despite Tara’s tone. “I will explain everything. Gra’zhev and his brother Gra’jha, were sent out in search of food days ago. They never returned, until now, and I suspected they were killed. They were instructed to find wild game, and to avoid humans. But it is clear to me that they did not abide by these commands. Gra’jha, and their wolves, have reaped the consequences already. Gra’zhev will be punished as well, I assure you.”
“Why now?” Minerva asked. “Goblins haven’t been seen in our lands in centuries. Why send these two out now?”
“Because the ancient denizens of this ruin have awakened and have cut us off from our fields and farms. Our warriors are long years without true practice and our crude weapons, such as they are, do little to penetrate them.”
“What does this have to do with us?” Tara growled.
“Nothing,” the priestess answered, turning her back to the companions. “But maybe everything. The Rune revealed that three humans would arrive in our domain and would be the key to defeating the soulless ones who ravage my people. But the future is seldom clear cut. You may yet refuse to aid us. But I beseech you, in memory of our long-ago alliance, aid my people against our iron foes. I will offer you treasures, such as we have, and you, scholar-mage, shall have Mantēvomë and Astarēvë, the Lightning Bolt Rune for your own.”
“We do not owe these things anything,” Tara muttered.
“Be certain, if these ancient foes defeat us, they will storm the surface world.”
“How do we know she speaks true?” Bargen asked.
“We do not,” Minerva answered truthfully. “But I believe her. And if it is as bad as she says, then we must do something. Headwoman Lelandra asked us to figure out what was going on, and I think we should do as she asked.”
“Fine,” Tara grumbled. “We will help, but if any of your people so much as look at one of us wrong, I will not hold back.”
“None among my folk will accost you while you are under my protection, you have my solemn vow. As for the soulless ones, they are not my folk, and they attack indiscriminately.”
“Very well,” Tara agreed. “We will go with you.”
“Please, release my foolish grandson before we enter the demesne,” the priestess asked quietly. “We will handle him in our own way, you have my solemn vow.”
Tara nodded at Bargen who undid the lengths of rope and handed them back to Tara. She stuffed them in her pack and the three humans followed the goblin priestess and her grandson out of the room.
Exploration Site Table
Oracle
Exploration Site Turn 3 Complete
Day 9c, Summer 15
The goblin village beneath the old ruin was larger than any of the humans had imagined was possible. There were shops of every variety, and multiple storied buildings carved from the earth itself. Goblins, of varying hues of green and gray, walked the cobbled streets and went to market in the same way countless humans did every day on the surface.
“They are just like us,” Minerva whispered. “Look at these buildings! The architecture is astounding.”
“Our ancestors built this town generations upon generations ago, and it has remained all this time. We are almost at our destination.”
Adventurer Update
The priestess led the companions to one of the few free-standing structures in the town. It’s smooth stone façade was tipped with wicked bronze spikes and the only form of ingress was a wide gateway in which was set two thick bronze doors.
Within, the companions were introduced to a hulking goblin in mismatched armor—a bronze breastplate patched with leathers, a leather cap fitted with skull of a night crow on the crown, and a belt of bone and leather.
“L’gasha, why have you brought these strangers to our home?” the warrior asked.
“Because the Rune foretold their coming, Bonecrow,” the priestess, who’s common was significantly more understandable, replied. “They will aid us in our fight against the soulless ones.”
“The humans have forgotten we even exist, nor do they remember the old alliance. Why would these three help us?”
“What befalls you, will come for us. It is for our mutual benefit that we stop these foes before both of our civilizations are overrun,” Minerva answered. “We will do what we can to aid you and your people.”
Bonecrow looked at the smaller woman curiously, a tusked grin spreading across his wide face. “Very well. It is good that some of your folk remember the old ways.”
It was Minerva’s turn to look curiously at the goblin warrior. She could not fathom what the “old ways” were but decided to say nothing.
“Wisdom is knowing when to speak, and when to stay silent. The scholar, once again, proves she is wise,” L’gasha, the priestess intoned, and placed her bony hand on Minerva’s forearm. “The Runes were good to send you to us, scholar.”
Tara tensed and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword when the priestess touched Minerva. One look from the scholar, however, restrained her. “Where are these soulless ones you speak of anyway,” the guide asked roughly.
“Bonecrow will lead you to the fighting. I must remain here to care for our injured,” L’gasha answered. “Scholar, you will take Astarēvë. It will aid you in the coming fight. When you return, Mantēvomë shall also be yours. You have my solemn vow.”
The priestess drew a sapphire cube from her pouch and held it out to Minerva. The streaks of white through the blue stone inexplicably formed the runes on each facet of the cube, as if worked there by a magic beyond the Rune itself. The scholar took the Rune reverently, reading the runic inscription and cementing it in her mind.
“The soulless ones do not like the flashing bolts, but I am now too old to go into the dance of battle. Use it well, scholar, and victory will be ours.”
“Thank you, L’gasha,” she replied, slipping the Rune into her pouch.
Bonecrow led them through the bastion to a bronze sally port in the rear wall. They found themselves in a wide tunnel, overgrown with a strange glowing moss. The goblin warrior led them deeper into the tunnel, until they arrived at a make-shift wall of boulders, old wood, and bronze-tipped spears. A group of goblins crouched behind the wall, occasionally peeking over and throwing a javelin or slinging a stone at some unseen foe beyond.
A scrawny goblin in mismatched leathers scrambled up to Bonecrow as they approached, giving the humans a curious look before rattling off something in the goblin-tongue. The two goblins conversed for a time, before the small one ran back to the wall and gathered a group of others. They began to peel back a section of the wall.
“We will go through and seek the soul that powers the soulless. If we can destroy it, we may all be saved.”
“You’re going with us?” Tara asked.
“I will go through the breach and reap glory for my name and peace for my people,” Bonecrow said, standing tall. “Together, let us do as our ancestors once did.”
“Lead on then,” Tara sighed.
Bonecrow led them through the breach that his force had opened in the wall. They found themselves in a massive chamber of black soil, marred by the ravages of intense fighting. The remains of dead goblins littered the ground from previous sorties into the war zone.
Exploration Site Table
“I don’t like the look of this,” Bargen murmured. “How are we to make a difference where so many goblins have fallen?”
“Take heart, human,” Bonecrow rumbled. “If L’gasha has seen you victorious, I doubt not that we will be.”
Bargen was not much encouraged by the bluster of the goblin warrior but held his tongue as they progressed through the cavern.
“This must be one of the fields the priestess told us about,” Minerva said, stepping up beside the goblin.
“It is. Or was. Now it is a killing field. Even if the soulless ones do not destroy us with violence, they will kill us through starvation. We have only enough stores for a week of meals on strict rations.”
“Then we must hurry.”
“Watch your backs. The soulless ones are skilled at hiding.”
As if by some kind of magic, an orb of bright steel materialized out of thin air. Its two appendages were tipped in sharp blades, while it hovered a few inches above the loamy ground. A single red light shone from its round form. Its blades whir forward, slashing Bargen before he could bring his spear to bear. The big shepherd cries out as the shining blade slices across his chest, leaving a ribbon of blood soaking through his torn shirt.
Exploration Site Table
Enter Combat!
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Bargen)
Two more orbs materialized, one in front of Bonecrow and the other next to the first. They struck in unison, catching the goblin and shepherd off guard. The razor-sharp blades punched through Bonecrow’s mismatched armor, ripping a hole in his broad shoulder. Bargen fell to one knee as the third orb dealt him a mighty blow. Blood poured from two open gashes across the shepherd’s midsection.
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Bonecrow)
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Bargen)
Minerva, standing just behind Bonecrow, reacts quickly, reaching into her pouch and drawing out the Lightning Bolt Rune. She takes a deep breath and speaks the command: "Astarēvë." Sparks of energy sizzle around the Rune, but quickly fizzle out. Minerva curses her arrogance. Tara rushes to Bargen’s aid, swinging her steel sword at the closest orb. The blade slices through it’s metal carapace, exposing strange vines of reds and blues attached to even stranger pieces of green plates. The orb turns its attention to her.
Combat Turn (Minerva)
Combat Turn (Tara)
Bargen, bleeding as he is, thrusts with his spear. The iron head punctured the orb, just below the malevolent red eye. The orb screeched as he pulled the spear free in a shower of sparks. Bonecrow slams the blade of his axe into his attacker, the bronze edge having a noticeably weakened effect against the shining metal carapace of the orb compared to the iron and steel weapons of the humans.
Combat Turn (Bargen)
Combat Turn (Bonecrow)
The orb strikes a heavy blow against Bonecrow, slicing through his armor and opening a long gash in his chest. The goblin bellows in rage and pain. Tara also cries out as the orb’s bladed arm gouges her shoulder. Bargen, however, rallies. He swats aside the blade intended to kill him and shoves his spear into the orb’s round body once again, sending sparks flying and causing the red eye to blink erratically.
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Bonecrow)
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Tara)
Combat Turn (Enemies)
Combat: Avoid (Bargen)
Combat: Counter-Attack (Bargen)
Bargen forced his spear deeper into his foe with a guttural roar, sending sparks and bits of metal flying through the air. The baleful red eye blinked once and turned black. The orb fell to the ground with a hiss. Meanwhile, Bonecrow hacked at his attacker with his bronze axe, cutting deeper this time. The orb’s red eye flickered erratically.
Tara’s sword sliced through her foe, leaving its metallic orb laying in the dirt split in two. The red and blue vines sparked and sputtered as the Soulless One perished. Instead of attacking, Minerva charged into the fray and gripped Bonecrow’s shoulder.
“I’m going to heal you, Bonecrow,” she whispered as he ripped his axe free of his foe. “Just a moment.”
The scholar murmured the Rune’s command and golden light suffused the green skin of the goblin warrior. He roared in triumph as wounds knit themselves together and strength surged in his rippling muscles.
Combat Turn (Bargen)
Combat: Enemy Morale Check
Combat Turn (Bonecrow)
Combat Turn (Tara)
Combat Turn (Minerva)
The weakened orb swung its bladed arm at Bonecrow once again, but the goblin warrior easily deflected it with his shield. His counter strike sundered the metallic orb and cut through the red eye. The orb screeched and smoked as it fell to the dirt.
Combat: Enemy Morale Check
Combat Turn (Enemy)
Combat Turn (Bonecrow)
Adventurer Update
Resource Update
Day 9d, Summer 15
“Is everyone alright?” Minerva asked after the last metallic orb collapsed in a heap of sparks and smoke.
“I could use some of that Rune magic right about now,” Bargen sputtered, hands covered in his own blood.
Minerva frowned, then said, “I am afraid I can only cast so much before I need a rest. Do you have any bandages? I can bind your wounds at least.”
“Check my pack.”
Minerva did so and brought out a spool of thick cotton. “This will do nicely,” she muttered to herself as she set to work binding Bargen’s cuts.
“What are these things?” Tara asked Bonecrow while Minerva ministered to Bargen.
“Soulless Ones,” the goblin warrior answered. “Our histories only say that they were created by an ancient civilization long before goblin, or human, woke from the eternal sleep that was.”
“They seem to be made of metal,” Tara observed, and crouched beside one of the destroyed mechanicals. “But I’ve never seen vines these colors or thickness. Nor ones that spark when severed. What are these green and golden plates the vines grow out of?”
“We do not know.”
“Bonecrow,” Minerva called. “Is there somewhere we can rest for a few hours? Bargen will need to recover if we’re to face more of these things.”
“There is a field house in passage,” the big goblin said, pointing across the field cavern to a wide passage leading out. “We can rest there.”
Minerva helped Bargen to his feet, supporting him on one side while he used his spear as a walking stick. Bonecrow led the companions across the field, ever watchful lest they be surprised again, and into the tunnel. It was of a similar construction as the other passages they had been through since meeting L’gasha the Priestess: roughly hewn but wide and well lit. The field house was built into the stone, as all the buildings they’d seen in the goblin town were.
A heavy bronze door opened into an expansive single room. The smooth stone walls were lined with bunks of thin bronze tubes and mattresses of feathers. A red-hot stone, the size of a small boulder, rested in a depression in the center of the room and immediately drew Minerva’s gaze.
“What is this?” the scholar asked. “Its so warm!”
“Firestone,” the goblin answered. “We use them to heat all of our dwellings.”
“Amazing!”
“Is it?” the goblin wandered, scratching his scarred chin, and looking at the scholar curiously. “I’ve never considered it. They are commonplace here. We mine them from the deeps, near the heart of the earth.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Minerva replied, warming her hands over the smoldering stone.
“Nor I,” Tara said, imitating Minerva by holding her hands over the heated rock. “It really is warm. Like a campfire.”
“Maybe warmer,” Minerva whispered, in awe.
“Indeed?” Bonecrow smiled a tusked grin. “You humans are an interesting lot. Rest here for a while. I will send word to my folk ahead and get us more information about what to expect.”
Minerva helped Bargen settle in one of the bunks before returning to the firestone and sitting cross-legged in front of it. Tara handed her a hunk of bread and the last of the berries and they ate in silence, staring into the bright heart of the hot stone.
Resource Update
Adventurer Update
Stay tuned next Tuesday for more updates on Minerva and Tara's adventure.
Comments