The Fourth Adventure

[kipper]

"Pardon me," Dame Simonetta says to Frederick as she passes, nodding somewhat coldly if he looks up at her.

[mushgnome]

Frederick waves hello and tries to chit-chat, but Dame Simonetta gives him the cold shoulder and descends to Wilbur and Dougal's position. She finds the two of them digging in the snow and searching the area for clues.

To her dismay she recognizes the frozen Hobbet as Ursa the Druid!

To recap: Ursa was last seen in the Grand Chasm area on Dungeon Level 1. Our Heroes helped her carry her equipment, then said goodbye and left her to her druidical research, which for some reason needed to take place in total darkness. She seemed quite comfortable in the underground environment and capable of fending for herself. She couldn't have exited the dungeon without our Heroes noticing, because the ladder leads directly to the storeroom of the Pancake House, where Frederick sleeps at night. So how she got back up to the surface, and without any of her clothing or equipment, is a real mystery.

[mgtremaine]

Kiplyn suddenly realizes it about to get real, he get as stable as he can on the toboggan and smiles back at the Moose. "I'm ready Mr. Moose"

[kipper]

"My goodness, what's happened to Ursa? . . . And what's she doing here?" Dame Simonetta says to Wilbur and Dougal. She takes the blanket which she's carrying and tries to use it to wrap around the druid's frozen body, after all there's still propriety to be observed and Ursa deserves to retain her dignity, even in death!

[mushgnome]

It's fortunate Dame Simonetta thought to bring the thick, woolen blanket. She takes the druid in her strong arms and wraps her up as dignified as possible.

As Dame Simonetta rolls Ursa over into the blanket, she catches glimpse of a strange expression frozen on her face.

Does Dame Simonetta look into Ursa's eyes, or does she close Ursa's eyelids to spare her friends the horror?

Let's recap our MYTHOS mechanic for those viewers just joining us. I stole this mechanic from a rules-light system called Cthulhu Dark. It's an extremely simplified version of Call of Cthulhu's "sanity check" mechanic. The difference in our Hobbet Heroes game is, we don't link it to "insanity" per se, or attach a good/evil value judgment. The statistic simply keeps track of how sensitive your character is to the supernatural world, for better or worse. MYTH is a "1d6, roll under" mechanic, and the stat is tracked on a scale of 0-6, where 0 is an unflappable skeptic and 6 is an NPC "true believer" temporarily under the DM's control. Think of it as your "investigative" skill.

Dame Simonetta has a MYTH score of 2, which gives her a 2-in-6 chance to gain some insight or clue from looking into Ursa's eyes. However, if she rolls a 6, then she has to make a MYTH check. If she fails that roll, then her MYTH would go up to 3.

The other PCs' current MYTH scores are Dougal 2, Willie 1, Kiplyn 0, Wilbur 0, Frederick ??.

A final note: At this stage in the game, MYTHOS is an entirely opt-in system. Hobbets may always choose to keep a MYTHOS of zero, if they wish, and remain blissfully oblivious to the dark arts. This may change as the party explores deeper dungeon levels, but for now, you choose whether or not you wish to partake in the supernatural elements of the game.

[acodispo]

Willie is ready for this, and in fact he says so: "I'm ready, Mr. Moose, sir!"

He grips the sides of the toboggan & takes a deep breath.

[kipper]

Dame Simonetta closes Ursa's eyes without dwelling therein.

[mushgnome]

Dame Simonetta treats Ursa with respect and soon completes the task of swaddling her in the blanket.

As she finishes, she hears a childish shout: "Look at meeeee! I'm riding the Yule Looooooooooogggg!" Frederick has chopped the top of the pine tree into a crude bobsled and is riding it down the chute! He does a double-take as he files past Dame Simonetta, Wilbur, Dougal, and Ursa. But there's no time to react; his bristly sled has reached terminal velocity, and there's nothing to do but hold on for the ride.

Meanwhile down below...

Willie and Kiplyn hang on tight as the moose accelerates to a full gallop. The spray of snow is exhilarating as the toboggan reaches incredible speeds!

The moose reaches the hill with a full head of steam. It steps with its left and right hooves on either side of the toboggan chute, on firm ground. The rocky terrain is no impediment to its long legs. The toboggan is perfectly aligned, pulling Kiplyn and Willie into the chute, pointing straight up the way they came down.

As soon as the toboggan touches the track, the strangest thing happens!

From Willie and Kip's perspective, the toboggan immediately decelerates to a crawl, and the track seems to contract to 1/100th its length. What was once a steep, icy chute is now no scarier than a children's playground slide. Hornpipe Hill has reverted from a towering rocky peak to a rolling New England hillock. The sun is smiling down on our two Heroes. They can see the face of a friendly squirrel watching them glide by, and hear the soft flapping of a raven's wings. Ahead of them, off to the side of the track, they see Dame Simonetta slow-motion wrapping something in a blanket, while Dougal and Wilbur look on with concern.

Somehow the moose is already halfway up the hill. Three more easy paces, and it will be at the top. It's still holding the reins of the sleigh between its teeth, and the rope is stretched impossibly long.

Frederick sails between the moose's legs on his makeshift Christmas-tree sled. The moose looks back between his own legs in amusement at the little man. From the perspective of Kiplyn, Willie, and the moose Frederick is moving at a snail's pace and his expression of childish joy appears as though trapped in amber. Frederick's tree and their toboggan are on a direct collision course, but at a relaxed speed, no faster than a walking pace. Their toboggan is practically floating up the chute and the runners softly chatter underneath them, defying gravity. Frederick's slow-motion shout hangs in the air: "Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuule...." and he seems oblivious to the impending collision.

Meanwhile...

Dame Simonetta has to rub her eyes in disbelief. She thinks she saw a giant albino moose gallop past her, at super-speed?

[mgtremaine]

"Willie, I think he's going roll right into us, I guess we better get out of the way." Kiplyn would say over his shoulder. "Abandon ship!" he would say with some glee and proceed to jump off.

[kipper]

Dame Simonetta has to rub her eyes in disbelief. She thinks she saw a giant albino moose gallop past her, at super-speed?

Dame Simonetta quickly disregards the outlandish thought, and instead addresses Dougal and Wilbur. "Would one or two of you boys give me hand with her, we've got to bring her back for burial."