We are taking a break from the Lion Castle Colony Scenario. Same players, new characters, new setting.
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This is not an official SFABC event, but almost everyone in it is in the club, so I am listing it.
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RECAP: OCTOBER 18, 2026 SESSION
Character (Player): Queller Machinson (Charles Garofalo), Sioned (Anastasia Warden), Dartyen (Gregory Warden), and Keith (David Willison). Runeskata (NPC played by David Willison). Oliver (NPC played by Anastasia Warden). Luna (NPC played by Philip De Parto). Dog # 6.
JUNE 10 - 12, 533 - Javier Party Returns, Part Two.
Section One: The Conclave - There were no encounters worth mentioning.
After the purchased supplies and animals were safely put away, Javier called a general meeting of the settlement (except those on active guard duty or attending to something urgent) to update everyone on the current situation and plans.
1.....Food
Food is plentiful right now, but preparations need to be made for the winter.
..........The purchase of 18 additional chickens will be a help.
...........The purchase of the 10 goats will yield milk and cheese. Repairing the kiln and associated materials is necessary so that cheese can be produced and stored for the winter.
..........Planters for the bags of purchased beans must be created to plant the beans for harvest and consumption and for raising the next crop. The planters will be kept within the stockade to prevent critters from eating them.
2......Defensive Fortifications
We will eventually repair the walls to the Motte and the Bailey, but this is being given a low priority as they did not stop the Giants and would not have stopped the Giant Ants or the Giant Beetles.
We will improve and, in time, expand our perimeter of defensive pits and web-support posts. We currently have medium-sized pits at the four compass points of our fortress. Each mid-sized pit is flanked by a pair of smaller pits. All pits hold straw and other flammable materials.
The plan is to first set the smaller pits on fire to funnel attackers to the larger, unlit pits. Once they are in the large pits, we set them afire.
The drawback to the plan is that we cannot depend on an opponent to attack under optimum weather conditions. Wet straw does not burn easily. Therefore we are placing one flask of oil in each of the small pits and three flasks in each of the larger pits. This will utilize 20 of the 40 flasks we just brought back from Trader Joes.
3......Animal Care
We have returned with the horses, donkeys, and mules we had stabled at Trader Joes. While this is welcome news for many in the group, it also brings us to the issue of protecting and taking care of them.
We need to build fences and a barn.
..........We will set aside the area that abuts the Motte hill on the east side. The east side has been the safest part of our enclave.
..........We can use the post diggers, forestry and carpentry tools we bought to set up a post perimeter. We need to do this quickly, so we will run rope from post to post as a temporary measure. We will need to keep the goats in the main stockade when they are not grazing as they would probably eat through the rope, but the visual barrier should be sufficient for the horses, cows, and so on.
..........We will cut out a section of the Motte hill to serve as the rear and side walls for a barn. The two Motte Gates and the Bailey Gate were knocked down by the giants, but they are mostly intact. We will use them for the roof. We will need to fabricate the final side of this structure.
4.....The threat of attack by the Bandits should be over, at least for now.
..........James Gordon killed Snidely Whiplash and his bodyguard.
..........Flon has defected and thrown his lot in with us.
..........We snuck into the yard of the Shady Trading Post and slept and killed the pigeons they used to alert the Bandits when prey was approaching.
..........The Bandits are also aware that we have many more spellcasters and people who can see in the dark than they do.
5.....Everything is urgent, but cutting and transporting lumber makes everything else possible.
..........The group had previously limbed and carried off the branches of six trees.
..........We have purchased saws and tree axes and can now cut and transport the trunks to the Bailey where we can trim them to our needs.
..........Sioned agreed to have her party stand guard so that we can redeploy the guards in the main group to hack and saw duty. Luna will stay at the Motte and send her hawk out on multiple reconnaissance missions throughout the day.
6.....The cellar of the Motte house.
The basement of the former stronghold is filled with water. Rather than spend time and energy to bail it out, we will let the summer sun do the job for us. We have plenty of canvas and rope. When it looks like rain, we will cover the pit to prevent it from refilling.
Once it is dry, we will see if anything of value is down there. Even if there is not, a dry, underground area is good for storage.
7.....We need to recruit farmers.
We had believed that this was a working stronghold and that the Bandit refugees would farm. We instead discovered a ruined fortress. We need the refugees to continue handling the duties of the staff of a castle: animal care, food preparation, laundry and cleaning, and so on, so that we can be free to handle security. Therefore, we will need to rebuild the small village to the north and farm the fields. We can't work on this now, but people should start thinking about attracting settlers.
JUNE 13 - 14, 533 - Exploring the Lake
The adventurers set out to explore the western lake, bringing along one donkey and two mules to carry supplies and provisions.
The group arrived at the destroyed dock / house / shed / workshop area at the lake terminus of the trail. They proceeded north along the East Shore, rounded the north tip, and headed south along the West Shore. They reached the south tip, headed north along the West Shore (camping overnight), and returned to their starting point.
The lake is an oval of roughly 14 miles in length, and 1 - 2 miles in width (it varies). The lake feeds into an underground river at the north point. The source of the lake is a waterfall from the higher elevations to the west. This is roughly halfway between the midpoint and the southern end of the West Shore. The group hadn't planned a highlands ascent on this trip and didn't want to risk the animals in an uphill trek to unknown territory.
The adventurers detoured to the clearing where they had previously found evidence of an unknown party living or passing through the lake / woods area. Their normal path back to the forest / lake trail went through a rough area, so they chose a different route back. This led them to a section of the forest that was home to a group of Huge Spiders. Luna and the dog, who were out in front of the main party, and became enmeshed in the web. They warned the party.
The spiders broke into two groups, one going for Luna and the dog, the others heading towards the main party. The spellcasters neutralized the spiders going after Luna and the dog with Sleep and Web spells and took care of the others with a mixture of spells and steel. Dartyen and Sioned were bit but made their Poison Saves.
The spiders had apparently been preying on passersby in the area for many years. There was no useful gear, but there were bags and purses of coins. The loot was evenly divided among the eight. Each received 6 Platinum Pieces, 8 Gold Pieces, 6 Electrum Pieces, 12 Silver Pieces, and 170 Copper Pieces. This has been entered on everyone's Character Sheet.
The group returned to the Bailey without further incident.
