Well, I couldn't find a recent enough backup, so here's the plot from memory.
Oh, and Rory has resigned, but I'll be taking over his character for my own purposes because I liked his character. If anyone cares to join, feel free to do so. If you do plan to join, you don't have to read this horrific recapping all the way. The first couple paragraphs and the last should hopefully be enough to follow along.Broken Symbol
In the village known as I NI, a series of events leads to the exhile of several individuals. Of these individuals, there is a fisherman, a baker, a strange elder, a farmhand, a tinkering girl, an amateur scholar, and a(n) [apparently psychotic] blacksmith (I'm looking at you, Tanks). The town is headed by someone known simply as The Old Man, who presides over the theocratic town's local religion.
The town is centered around a hill, which for centuries has had several symbols upon it. Namely, a simple rocking chair, which has recently been destroyed when the tree on the hill top lost a branch. The town erupted into panic when the head of the town's law enforcers, Jorick of The Armours, walks with The Old Man onto the sacred soil. Order is restored, but that night the girl named Xaku decided to investigate the hill while the fisherman Garmauld spied on the town's lawmen and leader.
The next morning started with the usual sermon and a few warnings, but a farmer named Ross seemed to snap under the stress of doubt, and perhaps a few other things. He began to run at the farmhand Lazule, but was aprehended and warned of the town's punishments for dissent. The event is cut short when a fire breaks out in Charles Dragonai's library, but thanks to Jorick, the fire is contained only to that area, with no loss of life. Unfortunately, the homeless Charles has lost his precious books, and is forced to stay in the upstairs room of Rosalind's bakery.
A meeting concerning the events is called amongst the concerned parties, as well as a few others who happened to be near. Also attending the meeting was George, a trader who rides into town frequently with his ox and a load of clothes to barter for grains and breads. After a discussion in the bakery (and an interrogation of George, who generally stays with Jorick), the group decides to begin nocturnal activities to stop The Old Man from harming the townspeople, who tend to disappear after faith shaking events. The night ends with everyone returning to their homes, although George is briefly kidnapped and tied to a cot by the suspicious blacksmith Belnan. He leaves the next morning for his usual trade route to the next closest town, which he calls The Flower Village.
At the third morning's sermon, there is a reporting of some of the previous night's events by The Old Man, or at least the events concerning the Armours. Afterward, Belnan begins preparation of weapons for the events to come. This proves to be of no importance though, because Jorick had other plans.
Jorick had secretly been preparing to smuggle the group out of town as he had always done with criminals and dissidents, a practice handed down from the last few generations of Armour leaders, apparently known in outside circles as Knightlords. He gave his master's old weapons to an aging guard named Rugen, and instructed him on their mechanical and alchemical properties. The two also visited each of the group in turn, so as to convince (and potentially disarm) them separately. He explained to them that he was under orders to kill and dispose of them, but that he would rather see them live in a secret village in the woods outside of the isolationist town's borders. Specifically, he asks them to be bodyguards for George the trader, who has apparently been the market for one for some time. To those who asked further questions, he revealed that he had intentions to cause a power shift in the town due to the apparent negligence and tyranny of The Old Man, though he does not elaborate. He only says that he has other work to do that night to prove they are dead, and sends them down the southern creek to visit George and a "dead" smith named Abel.
Exhiled
The group spends the night in Abel's hut, and stay several days before leaving with George. While there, Abel teaches Belnan an ancient method of steelworking that he learned through study of Jorick's antique collection. He teaches Belnan how to increase durability and sharpness, and he also teaches Lazule how to wield his own family's heirloom weapon, which is apparently adorned in an ancient art style called demon's teeth. He mentions in passing a myth that ancient demon's teeth weapons would supposedly condemn a victim to three days of suffering fire before they would die of their wounds. He also states that he has cut himself on these weapons, and that he has not died from it.
Before the group departed, they were told there are in fact many hills like the one in their home town, and that they tend to have miraculous properties to their soil. Identifiable by their roundness and the ditch or creek surrounding them, lush usually covers them despite whatever plagues exist on the land. They leave in the morning a week after the rocking chair was broken.
Traveling for a day, the group rests in a field along the river. After nearly eating nightshade and peas dense with cyanide, they have a simple meal of fish and sweettree berries. George promises that a man has a house down stream and would be willing to give them all the food they could eat. In the morning they unfortunately awakened by a bandit named John who wears guantlets in the same way that Armours would. He tells them not to resist, as he had archers in the perimeter prepared to kill all but George, who confirms the scenario. These bandits require payment from George everytime he passes through the area, and now is no different. The attack is called off when John notices Rugen's adornments though, and begs forgiveness of the "man of status". He departs, and the group moves on.
Somewhere along the path through the woods, the group is followed again, and it was likely John and his men who were tailing them. Something had caused them to change their minds, and George suspected they would be ambushed in a favorite area of John's down the road. Before the group could whisper a plan though, Lazule calls out to the bandits, and a startled archer fired a single arrow at him. The arrow missed, striking George square in the shoulder, and the group prepared for battle. Xaku was the first to prepare, and climbed a tree to spy on the bandits. Apparently unprepared to fight and not meaning to start anything, John cursed his men and fled with them down a paralel road. George and the others had to Sam's cabin in the hopes of a way to remove the arrow, which may be barbed.
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Currently the group is at Sam's cabin, and discover that he is blind. The cabin is filled with tables piled high with all kinds of foods, drinks, trinkets, and supplies, and the walls are equally covered. Sam has given them a numbing agent made from flower seeds, and despite initial reluctance at using it, the medicine has seemed to work.
I'm going to try a different way of updating from now on, that will hopefully be more organized. To make things clearer to start, I'm now going to list off the talents that the players have gained (or started with) since the beginning of the game.Belnan- Can now make high quality weapons of all sorts, but could still use some practice.
Garmauld- A fisherman. For now, no talents.
Rosalind- A baker with a talent for knowing people. If she wants to, she can check to see if people are lying, if they have hidden motives, or if there is anything remotely suspicious about their character.
Xaku- If she wants to examine something, she can see how it works.
Charles- Given a book by Jorick that lists the flora, fauna, and rocks of the regions he's in. If he looks at something natural, he can look up it's uses.
Lazule- Has an heirloom sword that is adorned in demon's teeth.
Rugen (Now just a party member)- Has a belt given to him by Jorick. Aside from disguising his status, the knife and club combination have other uses.
All players are currently outfitted with weapons given to them by Belnan, and he posesses extra weapons in some cases. I'm not going to list who has special weapons, but they know who they are.
Also, on Sam's wall, there is a very old looking map, with recent and varied handwriting labeling a few places on it (Okay, so the map isn't entirely labeled. I'm posting this last minute.)
Some of those names are placeholder names for the time being. Assume that whichever travelers wrote the labels didn't visit all of the places.
