Campaign 15: First Frolic Scenario 00: First Frolic Dawning Episode 03: Out the Door!
	Date: 12562-02-10, Time: 1000 Location: Desert Port, Lewawan, The Gorvij Lands Default Language: Gorvij

Player Characters Present

Character	Player	Sex	Species/Race	Description
Alijar Ilarik	Weston	M	Hyuumin/Waujak	Thief
Arberiks Kroonit	Christine	F	Hyuumin/Gorvij	Sharpster
Bernee Spam	Kevin	M	Dargaolhuun/Vordin	Thaumaturge
"Cat"	Melissa	F	Dargaolhuun/Vordin	Fighter
Kootayu Ranshee	Wood	M	Hyuumin/Nildrer	Thaumaturge
Laeris Seelfaroo	Don	M	Hyuumin/Relt	Sharpster
Liraan	Corinna	F	Fl;ajessav/Challit	Scrapper
Markuutril	Cassidy	M	Hyuumin/Gorvij	Hieruirge
Niijel Buzelstumper	Bob	M	Dargaolhuun/Vordin	Sharpster
Waun Chuu	Brad	M	Hyuumin/Nildrer	Thaumaturge
Wilnachet	Dennis	M	Hyuumin/Rinker	Fighter

Local Characters

Character	Sex	Species/Race	Description
Ankarev	M	Gorvij	Constable
Ashdor	M	Waujak	Alchemist
Braatrin	F	Gorvij	Public Witness
Bronderet	F	Gorvij	Weaver
Fergus Urkhart	M	Vordin	Baker
Frotheringhaa Urkhart	M	Shougild	Carter
Galeger Throkmorton	M	Vordin	Head Vordin
Ghravnokh	F	Braksont	Tinkerer/Cook
Gremaan Artrening	M	Gorvij	Chief Constable
Kleris	F	Gorvij	Constable
Plimsool Urkhart	F	Shougild	Carter
Reridav	F	Gorvij	Tavern Owner
Tiireen	F	Gorvij	Entertainer

Liraan sits up and peers about in the semi-darkness, her eyes
adjusting as strokes her golden skin, smoothing the down that had
become disheveled in the night. "Get up, you parasites! Better start
packing, you'll be leaving tomorrow!" a gruff voice calls at the
door. Oh yes, this is supposedly the day where the hyuumins feel
warm enough to stay outside.

Sliding out of the hammock, she stands and begins to groom. She
smooths her skin a little longer than she normally would, but the
remark about `parasites' severely unnerved her. After she's
satisfied that all is in place, she smooths her cloak and packs her
possessions. She dumps them out and packs them several times until
she is satisfied with their arrangement. She will be ready for the
morrow.

Arberiks awakes to a loud bang and some yelling. She has been
resting as well as can be expected in the bed she's been spending
her nights in since the first snowfall. It's lumpy and
uncomfortable, but at least it's indoors. She doesn't always get a
bed when wandering the countryside. Sometimes it's just a bedroll on
the ground. Which, at the moment sounds good. At least it would be
quiet. After the loud bang her `roommates' begin to wake up and, by
the sounds of it, are about as annoyed as she was.

After listening to the grumbling around her, she concludes that the
bang was the Chief Constable trying to wake them all up. What a
jerk.

A fitful sleep is interrupted by a loud, rude noise. Wilnachet is
quick to sit up alertly. His grey hunting dog hops off the bunk,
landing on the floor and adding to the noise with a series of sharp
barks.

The sense of danger passed as the dream-sleep faded from memory and
reality came into focus. "It's just some loud, rude local,"
Wilnachet thought, and rubbed his eyes. Compared to what he is used
to, the bunks are luxurious comfort, and his sleep has been deep and
full of strange dreams. Last night he dreamt of home, of the long
plains that stretch into the distance. Of his animals, of his
friends, and of his family. And suddenly, they were all gone, and he
was left in the village alone, with only a soft laughter echoing
through the silence.

Cat has spent her morning the usual way-- killing imaginary enemies.
She is already packed to go, she never really unpacked more than
absolutely necessary. Other than a sharp retort, she does not let
the constable's actions interrupt her drill.

Liraan places her pack back under her hammock, slips on her gloves,
tights, mask, hood, and moccasins, and grabs her moonstaff. Cat
steps back to let the challit by.

Liraan tiptoes quickly to the door, placing her ear next to it. She
hears nothing but the usual late morning noises outside. She removes
a soft, thick cloth from her belt pouch, and wraps it around the
door handle, turns the handle and quickly rushes outside. The
exterior of the shelter still doesn't smell wonderful, but it is
much better than the scent indoors where the others have been
sleeping. She closes the door as quickly and quietly as she can, but
still hears cursing from the other side.

Perhaps it is Laeris she hears, or perhaps it is Bernee, albeit he
actually just groans.

Laeris has no need to *pack* as such, seeing as he doesn't have much
in the way of possessions.

Bernee looks up momentarily, then gets back to rubbing his temples
(damnable migraines!)

Arberiks slowly gets up and stretches a bit before putting her feet
on the cold floor. These places are never well insulated against the
cold and the ground frost. A glance out the window tells her that at
least the sun is shining. That is a good sign. She puts on her shoes
and goes outside. She takes a long deep breath of fresh air. That
room is starting to smell really bad after almost a whole season of
everyone sleeping in that one room.

Wilnachet shakes off the remains of his dream. "Quiet, Bilenkyuu,"
he snaps at his barking dog in the rinker tongue. Bilenkyuu turns
his head toward Wilnachet, his tongue hanging out and his tail
wagging with doggish enthusiasm. Wilnachet's pleasure at meeting the
day is more restrained. He slides his feet over the edge of the bed,
and seeks out his possessions. Already the cold air from the outside
pricks at his skin, but he buries the unpleasantness with rinker
force of will.

Ah. His boots are still here, next to the bunk. He has been careful
to keep what is his. He hadn't been so lucky the first time he was
in a "city", that huge, noisy collection of hyuuman motion. He
learns from mistakes, he does. He fingers at the collar around his
neck. At first he snarled at the thought of being treated so
disrespectfully, but strange lands have strange customs, and so he
brushed it off as yet another foreign strangeness.

He adjusts his tunic, which he slept in, to be a little more
comfortable, and goes to gather his things, to dress to ward off the
cold that still lingers in this land. If what that noisy gorvij says
is true, the next year has come. This will be his year of fortune.
He will make this so.

Liraan replaces the cloth back in her belt pouch, and walks over
towards the tavern. She sees a booth in the square, starkly painted
in ripples of black and white. An elaborate candelabra rests in an
iron bracket on one side. Was this what she had been told about?

"Hello?" says the woman behind the booth. She is wearing a long
tunic with the same black and white pattern. "Are you looking for
the Public Witness?" "Excuse me Sen," Liraan says in her strangely
toned gorvij, "Can you tell me where I can have a message sent?"

"I may be able to help you", the woman responds "although your
alienness makes me uncomfortable and i would be glad to see you
gone. I am Braatrin, acolyte of the Church of the Two Truths and
Public Witness, at your service.

Liraan is puzzled by this directness, so rare in hyuumins. "I would
like to send a message home to Glashar" she says, "can you help me
with that?" "Glashar? I am unfamiliar with that name, where is it?"
"Glashar Dermilk, it is my village, it's west of here, about..."

Liraan suddenly realizes she has no references she can use to locate
her home, although she's sure she could find her way back. Braatrin
shakes her head. "The only flajessav places we know of for delivery
are the enclaves in the cities. However, there are some flajessavs
expected to leave today, perhaps they can help you. I will have them
sent to the hostel when they arrive. I'm sorry, we have no one who
can help you write in your language, but i can give you some paper.
Here, it's just butcher paper, but the end is waxed so it'll make a
waterproof scroll when you're done. And if you show it to me before
you send it, i'll witness it for you."

Liraan takes the paper. It's much thicker than she's used to but it
will easily take the latticework of indentatations that her people
use for writing. She thinks of going back to the hostel to warm up
again. But, on the other hand, there's food at the tavern and she is
hungry. And while to the numb taste buds of hyuumins, the regular
fare is dull, she's enjoyed the subtle mixtures of flavor and
texture, often different from day to day. She stands still for a
moment, trying to decide.

Arberiks makes a beeline for the tavern. There's a new poster on the
door.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY!
LIVE ON YOUR OWN TERMS!
LEARN HOW RIGHT HERE, TODAY!

Laeris studies that poster, sounding out the unfamiliar gorvij
letters, trying to remember the meaning of words in the unfamiliar
gorvij language. Was the new poster related to the old one about
making money through coaches? He can't tell, so he decides to go
inside. Behind him, the others gradually make their way out of the
hostel.

Niijel grabs a fallen wreath and puts it around his neck. The
ribbons dangle all around him in their festive colors. He runs off
to join the frolic. Today, he intends to visit every door in town
and greet any sleepyhead who might be at risk of missing this
glorious celebration.

Kootayu Ranshee comes out of the hostel last. As he steadies himself
on the doorframe he sees a dark shape in the sky. As it disappears
to the east, he realizes it must be a thrankee, a gigantic bird used
to carry small loads quickly.

Inside the tavern, Reridav has laid out the usual offering. There's
mashed tuber, grain mush, flatbread, water, porridge beer, and
various herbal infusions. That all comes with the lodging. Anything
else costs extra.

Today there is definitely something extra. There's a tub of snow on
a table. It's pure white snow so it must have come from some
distance away since there's no more snow in town and what around the
town is well on its way to merging with the mud. And in the snow are
little bright pink cones. Snowberries, the very earliest edible
crop, sweet and welcome. And just now, 2 shields each.

On the left side are 5 rough looking gorvijes and 4 shougilds. They
have a pitcher of the famously harsh gorvij coffee. They all turn
eagerly as the door opens, then hoot when they see who it is. One
yells "we've got a big job today, where's our breakfast?" Someone
else starts chanting "we want cream buns!" and the others follow
suit.

Waun Chuu takes his usual seat at a small table, hooking another
chair for Kootayu.

Niijel runs in. "Almost forgot!" he says as he grabs some food. He
runs out again.

Bronderet is in her usual corner. She's using a miniature harness
loom to make a table mat. It's nildrer style but with gorvij
symbols.

Tiireen is at her keyboard playing the "Ballad of the Futile
Warning", one of the many popular pieces from the musical epic "Out
of Chocolate".

In the back, 3 tables have been pushed together under a banner.

LIBERTY: DON'T SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS!
SECURE YOUR NATURAL RIGHTS WITH BROKERISTICS!

Behind the table is a man in a very fine satin tunic, deep red with
pale blue trim. It sets off the emeralds in the gold chain across
his chest very nicely. He has a notebook and some printed brochures.

The door opens again. It's the shougild Frotheringhaa Urkhart with 2
baskets. Reridav takes the baskets from him and asks when his sister
will be coming. Apparently there'll be a larger load on the cart. He
says it'll be another half hour and rushes off.

Reridav opens the baskets. The first has hot fresh pastries, which
she distributes to Waun and the noisy workers. The second contains a
jug of clotted cream. She scoops some out to go with the pastries.
She whips the rest into a froth. Then she takes out a tall glass,
the kind normally used as a vase. She fills it part of the way with
the special coffee, then carefully covers it with a flat layer of
cream. Over the cream she puts some mashed snowberries, then more
cream. Over the second layer of cream she dribbles honey in a
spiral, then carefully pours a pale yellow liquor over it. On top of
that she sprinkles little white candies that fizz as they float.

She places it in front of Waun. "Your nildrer coffee striper!" she
declares. He looks it up and down, taking in the visual effect. Then
he stirs it all together and takes a sip. A moment later, he stands
and makes a scooping motion with an upturned palm, a nildrer salute.
"It's wonderful!" he exclaims. She smiles and replies with a gorvij
bow. Then she goes to serve the others.

A few minutes later, Kootayu arrives and sits down opposite Waun. He
has a cup of hot mint since he doesn't feel up to coffe yet. He
wonders if he should chew the root today.

Notes:

Public Witness: A combination scribe and notary, usually part of the
religious hierarchy. They help people with official forms, write
letters for illiterates, and validate legal documents. First Frolic
is one of several holidays in which their services are made
available for free.

Thrankee: the gorvij couriers who ride these huge creatures like to
say that the word means "thunder hawk". That may be, but there's
little hawklike in their shape. Of course "thunder crow" is just not
as impressive a name.

Nildrer style weaving: A typical design has a black and white
cartouche at each corner, 3 rows of stylized images around the
edges, and a large image in the center. In a true nildrer design,
the cartouches would hold a nildrer symbol of authority or
accomplishment such as a siphon or a spade. The other images would
be chosen from among a small set designated as representing stages
in the development of nildrer civilization. These include such items
as tomatoes, loaves, gears, fish, reeds, and bricks. The center
image is usually the Imperial Tree. which symbolizes unity.

Bronderet's reinterpretation puts several different kinds of tuber,
the basic staple of gorvij life, in each corner, their leaves
intertwined to form the cartouche outlines. The rows of symbols are
gorvij Heart Runes, each of which expresses a quality or attitude.
And in the center, the checkered pattern the gorvijes call Harmony,
a reminder of the short lived Gorvij Alliance.