WINTER IS COMING: Anyone who has taken Unbroken Coast downtime will have to face winter when it arrives. Make sure you have some plan for food and shelter, or else when winter comes you will have to make saves vs disease, starvation, death by frost, etc. One way to avoid this fate is sailing away to another world where it isn’t winter, like the elves do. However, doing so estranges you from time. You will be unable to take downtime actions in the Unbroken Coast.
(If you have a stronghold to stay in, you should be fine for winter, otherwise try to find some friend who can offer hospitality. If neither is available, you can buy common food and lodging for winter for 120 coin and poor-quality for 36 coin.) (I’ll @ you all when it’s time to resolve this, just warning you now so you know in advance)
Events
Harvest: The year is winding down; the harvest festival has arrived. Everyone is either working in the fields reaping their crops, bringing the food into storage, or celebrating the harvest. Towns hold feasts where people gather and give thanks to the local gods and make sacrifices. Gods associated with farming, like Mithras or Lady Spring, occasionally attend these festivals. If anyone wants to spend the harvest festival in a specific town, talk to anyone specific during the festival, or have a cleric make an offering to a particular god, @ me in discord to resolve the details.
Weather: The Homeward Wind blows through the coast, helping ships return from long voyages and helping land journeys by blowing away bad weather. Monsters are also less active, as they get ready for winter. Travel through the wilderness is much easier. Beware, eventually the Homeward Wind will fade and be replaced by the icy North Wind, which is nigh-impossible to travel through. So this period of safe travel is best used to return home before the harvest festival ends and winter sets in, not start new expeditions.
The Grain-Ship: Beacon City sent out a riverboat filled with grain to the town of Newmill, which they heard was facing famine. Newmill rejoices; they will make it through the winter without starvation. This may be a bad move for Beacon City, however, because…
Dragons: Around a half-dozen red dragons attacked harvest festivals in the villages surrounding Beacon City, burning food as it was stored and transported. A hero who now calls himself Johnny Dragonslayer killed a dragon with a single arrow, revealing that these dragons are weaker than usual. Beacon City sent groups of archers to guard nearby harvest festivals after the first day of attacks, and the dragons stopped attacking. The dragons flew north when retreating. Beacon City is trying to buy grain at high prices, to make up for the damage to their stores, though barely any trade caravans are operating this late in the year. Anyone who can get a trade caravan to Beacon City before winter sets in and travel becomes nigh-impossible will be able to sell their grain for 3x normal price.
Omens: The god Giantslayer showed up to a harvest festival in Meadhaven. While drunk on several barrels of mead, he revealed that he’s in the Unbroken Coast area because someone pissed off the fire giants and he thinks they’ll try something next year. While these are just rumors, most of the town witnessed feats of strength like lifting a hill and moving it to give better shade, which seemingly prove that it really was Giantslayer.
Downtimes
Drava seeks an animal trainer for his sun-cheetah, following a rumor he learned from an orc patrol. The animal trainer who lives in the hills is an orc woman named Sevenhides who rides a giant bear. She warns that animals of the cat kingdom are always aloof and will not follow orders the way a hound would, only blood-magic or the passing of generations can change that. However, she can train the sun-cheetah in some basics, for 500 coin.
If you pay: Sun-cheetah now treats Drava as safe, and friendly but stray-cat-friendly. Additionally, choose one of these to have the sun-cheetah trained to do.
Follow: Stay close, acting as a light source. After 1d6 hours it gets bored of following and wanders off.
Hunt: Try to hunt something, if successful then return and lead you to it.
Don’t hunt: Refrain from hunting without permission, even if the pack animals or livestock seem really tasty.
Ambush: Join a fight, only one where the enemy is unaware. Roll morale to not flee if faced with combat longer than an initial first strike.
With more downtimes spent in the hills and more coin given to the animal tamer, you can train more of these behaviors, or request your own.
Aralake/AgentXII go shopping in Beacon City and look for interesting weapons and armor. A grizzled old war bear is willing to part with his absurdly specialized polearm, but will only give it to someone brave and strong enough to wrestle it away from him. (@ me for details if you want to try) reward is: the counter-lancer-fauchard-ranseur: As polearm, unhorse mounted opponents on a hit)
Additionally, the two are celebrated in the city for their role in defeating a pirate ship. Lots of free drinks at taverns, mostly.
ShopGirl sets up a stall in front of the Snail House, a property in the goblin city of New Gobmuck, and tries to sell Giant Coffee Beans and a basket of the orange fruit. A wealthy goblin named Hathasahat and his many minions buy these… but it turns out he paid in speculative goblin currency instead of proper coin. Lost 2 giant coffee beans and a basket of orange fruit, gained 1,500 frogcoin. (false-silver coins with frog images on them, only as valuable as you can bamboozle people into thinking they are worth)
A goblin will deliver a note addressed to Shopgirl and written in elvish, it requires translation.
Eddratius seeks a non-goblin apprentice in New Gobmuck. He meets and can recruit Lloyde vim’Torpore, a L2 magic user from a prestigious family whose only notable trait is being from a prestigious family. (Spells: magic missile, light, shield, levitate) Eddratius also gains a rival, the goblin wizard Chimerlin, who is offended by his refusal to take goblins as apprentices. Any further adventures or downtime in the city will be interfered with.
Knighto seeks a wizard to cast plant growth. There is only one wizard in the land known to have that spell: Narene the master of timber. His tower is on a forested volcanic island full of dragon-spawned monsters, and is guarded by animate trees, so visiting to ask for help will be a challenge. Other known wizards who don't know the spell but are powerful enough to cast it if given a scroll: Zaphoraz, court wizard of Prince Vantage. Gristleglue, the necromancer responsible for a ghoul disaster, currently being held prisoner in Beacon City awaiting trial.
Domain Matters
These are addressed to the master of each domain, but everyone else can act on the information here, as rumors from these places spread.
Coppercave:
The mining “town” of coppercave is doing well-ish. Here is the report sent to their leader, Badger.
It’s still just a bunch of tents and a few wooden buildings built near a cave, not a proper town. No copper has been mined. However, they expect to be able to start mining next year once winter passes.
The truce with the hillfolk is holding, they now visit the settlement to trade.
A team of clerics and fighters sent by the cult of the psychopomp, lead by a man in silvery magic plate armor, cleared all remaining ghouls in the cave. They present 12 ghoul heads to the miners and send Badger a bill for 300 coin.
Johann Dredge, the mining engineer in charge of the town, seems annoyed that the mine has been delayed by the ghouls and won’t be able to start mining this year.
Kingdom of the Valley
Here are the events Knighto faces when returning to his castle.
Taxes: The town of Silver Lake Abbey sends 1000 coin in tax, as well as enough food to count as ‘common food’ for all living in the castle.
Newmill is not paying taxes, still damaged by the war, but expects to be able to next year if the harvest is good and no further disasters happen. Thanks to a gift of grain from Beacon City, they no longer face famine. Hugo Miller, their mayor, asks that the kingdom repay this gift somehow.
Colette Rivers, a lawful priestess of the three rivers and the lake, says she has a message for Knighto: “The rivers and the lady of the lake are protecting your kingdom from the locust swarms on the other side of the valley because they are still somewhat attached to the people, but expect to receive worship and sacrifices in return for their help like they used to.They ask whether you plan to restore the priesthood at their temple or build a new one for them.” She asks for a reply, so she can deliver a message to the lake and rivers.
Dergo has handled various minor matters of rulership, in his role of regent. The servants of the castle say that the people are still uncertain about him; he’s wise but kind of creepy.
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