Mausritter Solo Actual Play Mousey Wizard Ep 4

 

Episode 4

Last time in our Mausritter actual play, Aloe and Anise finished setting up the boulder trap outside the gates of Stumpsville (it actually won’t work as intended).  Then a heavy snowfall came and instead of leaving, Anise continued to study the stone tablet and discovered it was a Frenzy spell.   Aloe worked in the smithy and broke a window playing with some mice kids.  Let’s see what happens in today’s scene!

Bold text: mechanics
Italics text: Roleplaying
Plain text: Out of character explanation

Materials: Mausritter Core Book, OPSE, Bernpyle #3 and #8,  Oak Mill Institute by MatthewSteakHam, Knave 2e, Ironsworn Oracles, Hanson Expansion, Burrows Chronicles

The worldbuilding section will be posted at the end of this article. 

Set the scene

d6=4 An NPC acts suddenly.  Let’s roll on the Adventure Seeds table and see what happens with this NPC. This table has 3 d66 rolls for Creature, Problem, Complication
d66= 24,32, 46   Pigeon Rider, Have had all their food stolen, A ghost is haunting the location.

Looking at the map of Earldom of Ek, the only pigeon rider roost mentioned is in Oaksgrove.  Between there and Stumpsville is a mysterious Ghost beech tree with a beetle graveyard amongst the roots.  It’s a bit of a detour from us going to the Tower of Magnolila.  Let’s see what the oracles have to say about it.

Weather 2d6= 4 Sleet

After a week of work and study, Anise is anxious to get back on the road.  The snow seems to have cleared up, but now a heavy sleet has begun to fall once again.  This weather is terrible. She decides to visit the local clothier shop to see if they have any heavy cloaks she can wear to protect her against the sleet during her travels.  The sleet has not deterred her from anxiously wanting to visit the wizard in the Tower of Magnolia. She eats her breakfast of [d12=3] Blackberry pie and heads over to Aloe’s home to see if he wishes to accompany her to the shop.   He eagerly awaits her arrival, and is waiting for her just inside the door.  When he sees her approaching, he rushes out and they both say at the same time, “This sleet is awful!” 

They laugh and Aloe, says, “Jinx!”   They head on over to the clothing shop to see what they can find. They ask the shopkeeper about winter cloaks, and he points out that they are normally 150 p each!

Due to their good relationship with Stumpsville, can they get the cloaks at half price? Oracle Even d6= 1,3 No. 

They try to convince the shopkeeper to come down in price, but he explains that the materials to make such a heavy cloak is quite expensive. Anise will pay the full price, but unfortunately Aloe will have to brave the cold.

Anise 220-150=70 p.  + Winter Cloak

 

They leave the shop, Anise throwing the cloak over her shoulders and immediately feeling a huge difference.  Suddenly, a flapping pigeon alights into the middle of the courtyard ahead through the narrow opening of the stump above.  A pigeon rider mouse dismounts, patting the pigeon as she does so.   Several villagers along with Anise and Aloe, hustle over to the newcomer to see what brings them here. 

As Anise walks up, she hears the pigeon rider telling their tale.  “Hello good ladies and fellows!  I am [16, 2] Daisy Black” she reaches up and pulls her goggles from her eyes, and hangs them over one of her ears. “I am a courier knight from Menhir Mot, currently stationed at Oaksgrove as a messenger between the two settlements.”  She has chocolate, marbled fur and a tiny body [1,5,15].  Perfect to allow quick flight upon a pigeon.  The pigeon coos a melodic greeting as well.  Daisy turns to the bird and gives it a pat.  “And this is my noble friend, Sid.”  The pigeon dips its head toward the gathered mice. Daisy adjusts the shortsword belted over her denim cuirass.  Strapped onto her back, a SD memory card (the mice don’t call it that) acts as her shield.

“I was flying back to Oaksgrove last evening, and decided to stop for the night at what we call the Ghost beech [5].  It’s a large beech tree near here that is bone white. Surely you know if it.” Many of the local mice nod their heads in acknowledgement.  “Sid and I were perched in the branches, roosting for the night and sound asleep, when I heard an eerie sound awaken me.  I drew my sword and called out a challenge but saw only a wisp of floating light pass under the gnarled roots of the beech.  It was then that I noticed that our saddlebags had been pilfered!”

Many of the mice began to murmur about ghosts and the beech tree being haunted, since it rests over a beetle graveyard.   

“Our provisions were within, as well as some other personal trinkets.  But most importantly was a sealed message from the lord of Oaksgrove, [85,14] Laurel Snow.  She had entrusted me to get it delivered today, and now it is gone!  I am more than willing to delve into the bowels of the earth beneath the beech to retrieve it, but I am no fool.  I wanted to seek help first.”

Without seeking Anise’s agreement first, Aloe raises his hand eagerly, “Anise and I will assist you, good knight!”  Anise opens her mouth to argue, to state that they need to get to the Tower. 

But the knight speaks first, “Very good, sir!  Time is of the essence, so if you and the good lady would mount up behind me here on Sid, he can carry us all 3 back to the beech, since it is such a short journey!”  Anise presses her mouth shut in a tight line and gives a squint-eyed look toward Aloe.  He does not notice.

Anise finally speaks up in her small voice, “If it is indeed a ghost, how we will defeat it?  Don’t we need special weapons or the like?”

Daisy looks back from prepping Sid’s harness, “Indeed, good scholar.  But we need not defeat the ghost, only get my courier bags.”  Anise is worried about this task, but she is curious to learn more about this supposed ghost.  It would be an excellent addition to her studies.

Daisy Black stats: STR 9, DEX 7, WIL 10, HP 5  Inventory Compass, Rations, Torch, Shield, Armor, Shortsword. Her light armor gives her 1 defense.



Shortly after, Daisy, Aloe, and Anise have all mounted up onto Sid’s back.   Daisy attached a safety pin to both Aloe and Anise, as well as herself.  The pins are strapped to the harness of the bird.  Aloe and Anise will need to make a WIL save while flying, or they will suffer a Nauseated condition [From the Burrows Chronicles].
Anise WIL d20 = 5 vs 10 Save
Aloe WIL d20= 4 vs 6 Save

Aloe gives a whoop of excitement as Sid glides through the air over Stumpsville.  Anise grips her harness pin tightly, but still enjoys the amazing view from up here. 

It normally takes a whole watch to move across a hex, we’ll say in flight it only takes half of the morning watch.  We will roll an encounter that we can see below, but it won’t affect us directly. 

Oracle Encounter d6=3 Hostile Enemies.   Roll on Mausritter encounters: Cat Lord, Balthazar hunting

While looking below, Anise sees the large form of Balthazar, the cat lord, skulking through the sleet covered ground below.  She gasps and taps Aloe’s arm in front of her.  He turns his head, and she points below to the cat.  He grips his hammer tightly, but they both know there is nothing to be done now.  Hopefully he steers clear of the Stumpsville mouse hamlet.

Before long, they arrived at the beech tree, and they glide back down to the ground and dismount. 

What do we see around the beech tree Oracle Detail Focus: 10 Clubs- Physical Specialized

Along the ground around the beech tree, the roots of the tree make small arches above the earth.  Upon inspection, one of the arches leads underground!  Anise points it out to the others, and they move over to investigate further.  They all arm themselves, Daisy with sword and shield, Aloe with his hammer in one hand and a torch in the other.  Anise with her spell stone in one hand the sling in the other.  Aloe moves forward first, having the torch and they gain a glimpse of the inside of what appears to be a shored-up mine.

Ok!  Our first adventure site!  We’ll roll on the adventure site tables in the Mausritter rules.  You create a theme for the site, choose who inhabits it, and why.  And then determine what the secret is for that site. Instead of stocking the rooms as a GM, I’ll use the OPSE rules and Mausritter core rules to populate it dynamically.

I rolled a d20=17 Deep Mine.  Ruination d12= 6 Shifted between realms.  Perfect!  That will explain the “otherworldly” creature Daisy saw.  Though I’m not convinced it was a ghost just yet.  
Let’s roll on the Denizens table d10= 6 Ghostly spirits.  Ok, I guess it is ghosts! Haha
Searching for/protecting d8= 8 Vast horde of pips

Secret d6= 4 Forgotten grave of an ancient queen

What is the first room in the entrance: type, creature present, treasure present 3d6=6,3,2  Lair, yes, yes

Lair type d6= 6 Permanent home, comfortably appointed.  Ok, so probably not a “ghost” lair.   Sounds like something alive is living comfortably here.  My initial thought when we rolled this up was a pixie had stolen Daisy’s gear.  I think I’ll go with that, though ghosts will definitely be present later as well. 

What does the pixie look like [From Knave]?  D6=2 Male; d100 name= 91 Tristan; personality d100= 56 Manic; Details d100= 75 Shaggy hair, 36 Frail, 73 Rugged; Profession d100= 2 Acolyte; Goals d100= 41 Destroy magic

Is the pixie alone in the room Oracle likely d6= 4,5 Yes
Attitude toward us Oracle How d6= 6 Extraordinary

CONTENT WARNING: THIS NEXT SCENE DEALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS AND GRUESOME VIOLENCE
The 3 mice walk into the entrance of the mine and come to a stout wooden door inset into the wall. The mine stretches down deeper into the earth.   They gently push upon the door, as they see light coming out from underneath.  They walk into an extremely nice room, with a cozy fire in a hearth, a nice rug upon the floor and an array of furniture within.  Sitting in a rocking chair in a corner is a pixie.  He’s about the size of the mice, with a shock of long green hair and a very thin, frail body.  His face is extremely ugly.  It looks like he has seen a lot of hard times in his life, with heavy bags under his eyes and deep-set wrinkles.  His dragonfly-like translucent wings have a sickly hue. He looks largely unwell.  The pixie looks up from a stone tablet in his hands as the mice walk in.  He does not seem surprised at their presence.

“Hello!  Welcome to my humble abode!  I’m Tristan. Please, make yourself comfortable by the fire.”  Anise looks at the others, then warily walks toward the blazing flames.  After the flight in the freezing sleet, she is grateful for the warmth.  They shuffle behind her. “I suppose you have come for the things I took last night?” he states matter-of-factly, with a smile.  “I didn’t mean any harm, just curious as to what you might have in those bags.   It seemed disappointingly mundane.” Daisy grumbles something in response.  “What was that?”  He smiles and says.

“I said, can I have it all back then?” she almost shouts.

“No need to be so touchy, of course you can have it.”  He smiles again but then notices the Frenzy tablet in Anise’s paws.  His smile slips away.  “What is that, little one?” and he points to the tablet.  It appears similar to the tablet he holds, only the runes are different.

“It’s…uhh…a spell tablet”  Anise falters.  She is a little concerned about the serious tone he suddenly adopted.

“Magic,” he spits, and his countenance shifts suddenly dark.  He stands to his feet and throws the tablet he was holding roughly aside. “Magic destroyed everything I cared about.  It suffuses everything where I am from.  It chokes, smothers, destroys.  I came to your forest to escape it.  But I found that,” and he points to the tablet he had held, “as soon as I arrived.  And now, you bring THAT in here as well.”

“I’m…uh…sorry.  We’ll happily leave once Daisy has her things and we won’t bother you further.”  Anise stammers in a near whisper.  She notices both Daisy and Aloe have shifted their stance and now hold their weapons at the ready.

Does the pixie attack the mice Oracle Unlikely d6= 2,4 No
Does the pixie want to be rid of the tablet he has Oracle Likely d6= 1,2 No.  I think that means he wants to destroy it, rather than just get rid of it.
Do the mice attack the pixie oracle unlikely d6= No, but.  I think this means that Daisy wants her stuff, and if she can’t get it, she will attack.

What does the pixie do next? Action Focus: 2 Diamonds.  Seek Technical (mental, operation)

“Do you know how to destroy these…things,” he hisses to the mice and points to the tablets.

“No, I’m sorry I do not.” Anise answers.

Action Focus: Ace Hearts. Deceive Social

“If you give me your tablet, your friend can have her things, and we can all be satisfied.” Tristan suddenly calms down, stands erect from his hunched position and straightens his clothes.  He doesn’t appear to be completely reasonable or in control of his emotions.

“I’ll take my gear, and Anise will keep her things, and we will leave you be, deal?” Daisy says with just a hint of menace.  

Daisy WIL save d20= 11 vs 10 Fail.  Failure Move d6: 3 Offer a choice.

A large smile creeps over Tristan’s face once again.  But this time, it feels darker, full of malice.  “Hand over the tablet and leave my home.”

I don’t think there is any chance Anise would comply, so I won’t even bother rolling an oracle check.  Looks like a combat. 
Tristan: 6HP, STR 8, DEX 15, WIL 13

“No.” Daisy states firmly and readies her weapons.  Out of thin air, a short sword appears in Tristan’s hands.

Initiative DEX saves:  Anise 18 vs 6, Daisy 3 vs 7, Aloe 17 vs 9, Tristan 14 vs 15.
Order: Daisy, Tristan, Aloe, Anise.  We are currently at Short Range.

Daisy 2d6= 7 Hit.  Damage d6= 1.  Tristan HP 6-1=5
Tristan 2d6= 7 Hit.  Damage d6= 2.  Daisy HP 6-1 (1 blocked)= 5
Aloe 2d6= 5 Hit.  Damage d6=5.  Tristan HP 5-5=0
Anise 2d6= 6 Hit.  Damage d6=5. Tristan STR 8-5= 3.  STR Save d20= 2 vs 3 Save!

Daisy sees the weapon appear in Tristan’s hands and doesn’t hesitate.  She slides forward gracefully, her tiny body moving like lightning.  She strikes at the pixie with her sword, and he mostly deflects it, the blow barely striking his dragonfly-like wings behind him.   Tristan turns his parry into a riposte, and hits back at Daisy.  She is able to deflect the blow with her SD card shield, but the blow makes her arm tremor. 

Aloe isn’t far behind in his attack, and he deftly swings his hammer, hitting Tristan in the shoulder.  Before he can recover, a stone spinning from Anise’s sling slams home into his chest.  The raining blows stagger him, but he stands tall, ready to continue the fight. 

Daisy 2d6= 6 Hit.  Damage d6=5.  Tristan STR 3-5 = 0

Daisy’s short sword thrusts suddenly upward from behind her shield, and it penetrates deeply into Tristan’s midsection.  He looks down in disbelief, as his magical fey blood spills onto his rug.  He opens his mouth as if to say something, then collapses to the floor.  The mice stand there panting for a moment, then Anise runs over and grabs the stone tablet that Tristan had discarded.  Daisy likewise grabs her saddlebags from the corner.  

Until Anise is better trained, we’ll have to study this tablet to find out what it does.  Though I think due to her experience, it will only take 3 days of study instead of 5.   We’ll roll 2 more times on the treasure table to see what else Tristan had here.  Twice for standard treasure and once since this is a magical area.  (One of the treasures is this random spell tablet).

d20 Treasure: 17 Purse containing d6X10p = 60
d20 Treasure: 18 Loose scattering of d6X5p= 25

Spell worth d6X100= 400

155 XP each for the 3 mice

The mice gather up the coins that Tristan had accumulated, no doubt stolen from other travelers.  Daisy was mostly only interested in her gear, but she also took Tristan’s short sword as well.

Since Anise is taking the spell, I’ll give Aloe the pips.

Aloe pips = 110

There is definitely more to be found in this mine, but I think the mice are ready to leave.  Oracle Likely to leave d6=5,6 Yes, And.

“There’s probably a lot of treasure to be had below in this mine!” Aloe eagerly states. 

“We can come back some other time, we have things to do,” Anise answers firmly.  Daisy nods her head in agreement. 

We’ll make note of this dungeon and may return at a later date.  

Will Daisy give Aloe and Anise a ride to the Tower of Magnolia, since it is nearby? Oracle Likely d6= 2,2 No.

”I would give you two a lift to your destination, but unfortunately, my lord needs this message post haste.  I hope you understand?”  Daisy said apologetically. 

“Of course, thank you for your help,” Anise answers.  Daisy murmurs her thanks in return and leaves to mount up on Sid.  Anise looks at the form of Tristan lying in his blood, ruining his nice rug.  She decides that she will roll him up in that rug and she and Aloe should bury him.  Aloe agrees, and they set forth with the grim task.  They find a shovel among his belongings and proceed to bury the pixie in the beetle graveyard. 

Once they are done, they decide they will not linger here and set forth south toward the Tower of Magnolia.

This unfortunate combat will most likely have a lasting effect on Anise and Aloe.  I hope you enjoyed this session; we might see Daisy again in later episodes.  

WORLDBUILDING

As a reminder, these are the factions currently.  Since it has been such a short period since our last progress rolls, I won’t make additional moves at this time.  I want the characters to have more of a chance to influence events.

Sugar Cult – Mouse religious cult; Leader: ?; Faction Trait: ? 
Base: ?
Goals:
Recruit members 2/3 
Summon the Sugar Lord 0/5
 

Resources:
Secret Hideout
Rare Item (currently unknown to Anise and you as the reader, but I have it written down in sekrit)

Grand Library – Mouse Scholarly Circle; Leader: Iris Maker; Faction Trait: Global Reach
Base: Oaksgrove

Goal:
The Library has discovered the workings of the Sugar Cult, and want to help willing members leave the cult.  This will act against the Recruit Members resource of the Sugar Cult. 0/4

Resources:
Grand Library
Extensive Knowledge of region and history
Local Chapters

Dedratz Gang – Rat Gang; Leader: ?; Faction Trait: ?
Base: ?

Goals:
Build Wealth 0/5

Resources:
Ruthless gang
Secret hideout
Protection Racket

Balthazar – Cat Lord; Leader: Balthazar; Faction Trait: Predictable
Base: Balthazar’s Gate [8]

Goals:
Raise bribes from settlement 0/3 
Subjugate a settlement 0/5

Resources:
Terrifying presence
Hired mercenaries and bandits
Exorbitant wealth
Mouse Servants


Lord Larkspur – Mouse Noble; Faction Leader: Lord Larkspur; Faction Trait: Gullible
Base: Menhir Mot [16]

Goals:
Raise tax revenue 2/3
Acquire new land rights 0/5
The Larkspur Nobles want to clean up the Dedratz problem.  This goal will work against the Dedratz Protection Racket 0/5

Resources:
Indolent Knights
Menhir Mot stronghold

Someone must do something about that cat, Balthazar! But what can we do?  Perhaps we can find further answers from the wizard Gwendoline.

See you next time!