Hexplore24 — Day 17
HEX J09
Light Snow — Rainbow veil
Dawn watch: 4- Local, POI discovery, they find signs of a population center, active in the past, nearby.1
Dawn light breaks through the clouds and falling snow, showing a colorful sky, and eliciting gasps, a rainbow shimmering high up, visible until a foggy veil obscures it and snow starts falling thick enough to hide any further displays of heavenly colors.
But it is not this shifting snow that causes Blain to excitedly, and nearly slipping, run and call for the others to come look, “I’ve found something, I think a, or — just come see!”
Both Belus and Satis are surprised to see Blain so uncharacteristically uncomposed — more an excited kid than a young noble.
I know he’s found remains of a town, but for more I’ll roll an Mythic location and urban tables: “unexpected horrible” “rustic clean” and description: “mildly horrible”
Boy... sounds bad.
Nestled in a narrow canyon nearby, Blain shows them a carved stair leading up to small dwellings hidden in ledges and shelves within the giant stone obelisks, while their number, size, and extent is unclear from down here, it is obvious these homes were destroyed by deliberate violence.
Rock faces still black from smoke, walls cracked from tools and weapons, the signs of past war and violence sends a chill through the group.
“There’s a — a town, right? Up there?” Blain asks.
“Was one... looks like it was destroyed,” Malla replies.
“How long ago I wonder?” Belus asks.
Satis asks, shivering, “Who lived there? Where are they now?”
“Where are the ones who destroyed it?” Aima asks glumly.
“We should explore it, right?” Blain asks.
Both Aima and Malla say “No!”.
“It’s far too dangerous with the ice,” Aima explains.
“Maybe after the thaw we can return,” Malla suggests.
Blain nods, understandingly.
“Come,” Malla says, turning back to camp, “we have a river to ford.”
One by one, they leave the view of the rock wall village, each hoping for deadly answers to its fate.
Costs 4+1=5 points to ford the river in a new place, in snow. Takes 2 watches.
Event Hazard die: 6, nothing.
Next Event: 2 — exhaustion or wait. They have to ford, so all take exhaustion.
Fording the river is an exhausting endeavor, the terrain dangerous and nearly too rugged for the mules. After hours of work, Malla finally finds them a safe crossing, and by the time all are across, the sun is already getting low in the sky.
10 hrs wood. Now in Hex K09
Malla finds them a campsite near the river, and Belus, Satis, Blain and Aima gather wood, barely talking, exhausted from the day’s travels only a short distance.
Worse, because the mountains were too tricky to navigate, they will have to ford the river in a second place again tomorrow.
“This is near where we met the witches,” Belus remarks, though Satis cannot recognize the area from the snow.
HAZARD: 4 — Local Effect. 7, POI Discovery
Agricultural Resource. FC: Actively Maintained? Yes. Irrigation? No. Orchard? Yes.
“Wait,” Satis says, studying the row of trees they’ve been gathering wood in and pushing through, “Don’t those seem too regular, like they were planted?” Belus agrees.
“This is an orchard,” Belus says, “and, it’s hard with the trees bare for winter, but I think those are a fruit like apple.”
They show the others. “Are these wilded like the cropgrass we saw before?” Blain asks.
“No,” Malla says, “The placement and size, I think these are only a few years old, planted by hand...”
She and the others look around. “But by whom I don’t know.”
Malla crits cooking. Blain fails his story.
It’s hard to say if it is the day’s intense travels, or Malla’s improved technique, but her cooked mule is splendid, and all eat it heartily.
Blain tells a story he grew up hearing, a legend of some sort. But part way through he realizes he’s forgotten some key points and ends it rather abruptly.
Night watches — 3, 5
3 depletes. 5 is signs.
All but Belus pass sleep.
That night everyone but Belus sleeps well. He is restless, and gets up. In the distance, on the far shore of the river, through gentle falling snow, he sees the watchers. He watches back until, slowly, they leave.
Belus is exhausted still.
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The dawn hazard was a discovery using my HEX ESP system. But that system is for populated areas, so an approach I’ve chosen in general is to allow the discoverers to be places with the potential of a past use, so a spot ideal for a village, or a spot that used to have one, I asked FC if I’d see smoke, applying a -4 because it’s unlikely and got a no.↩