This continues part 1 of my homemade Sanna Valley Campaign. I am working to make a shareable guidebook of this adventure for others who may want to run it.
Theme: The Doctrine of Christ
Type: Sandbox hexmap
Time for us to complete: 22 game sessions.
Player Characters:
Philip the Raid Leader: 7th mission, 4th mission as Raid Leader.
Starflower the Lion Warrior (with Regulus the Lion): 7th mission, 4th mission as a Lion Warrior.
William the Bear Knight (with Bill the Bear): 7th mission, 4th mission as a Bear Knight
Edward the Knight of the Way (Forest Specialty): 7th mission. 1st mission as a Knight of the Way
Session #4
Where Is Your Faith?
Date in Real Life: Sunday 17 Oct 2021
In Game Day: Arba the 21st of Yuwol (3rd day of mission)
Player Characters: Philip the Raid Leader (commanding his second mission), riding Johny the horse, Starflower the Lion Warrior (with Regulus the Lion), riding Alogo the horse, William the Bear Knight (with Bill the Bear and Arled the horse) and Edward the Knight of the Way (1st mission as Knight of the Way), riding Edmur the horse.
The night passed without incident. After breakfast in the morning, the horse chieftain approached the team to see them off.
“Thank you again for your help. I have a gift from the OverLord for you,” he said, dropping a rolled scroll at Starflower’s feet.
“Thank-you,” Starflower said, scooping up the rolled parchment.
“What’s it say?” Philip asked, leaning his head around Johny’s neck.
“It’s from the sacred scrolls,” Starflower said.
Matthew 8:24
Suddenly a furious
storm came up on
the lake, so that
the waves swept
over the boat.
But Jesus
was sleeping.
“I know that story,” Philip said, nodding. He went back to brushing Johny.
Starflower shrugged. She knew the story as well. But why would the OverLord send this particular Word Rune? How would they need it? She carefully rolled up the scroll and stashed it away with the other scrolls they had picked up during this adventure.
“Back to Hawold, then?” William asked after they finished saying their goodbyes, and were on their new mounts. They looked to Philip, the Raid Leader.
“Yep. We have unfinished business there,” Philip said. “Edward, lead the way.”
Edward grinned and spurred his mount forward with a few clicks of the tongue. The rest of the team followed the forest-trained Knight of the Way.
The first hour or so of the journey passed uneventfully. Philip glanced up at the overcast sky from time to time. It was a little chilly today, and the leaves were starting to turn various shades of yellow, orange and red.
“Whoa,” Edward called. Philip’s attention snapped back to the front. Edward had stopped at a large, ancient looking oak tree. “Something feels odd,” Edward said.
“All stop!” Philip called out. The forest got quiet. Philip stilled his thoughts for a quick moment of prayer. “I’m not sensing any evil,” he called out.
“I don’t hear or smell anything,” Bill the Bear said.
Edward slid from his horse’s back and walked around the tree. “Hey, guys! Come see this!” Philip and the others came around the tree to see what Edward found.
Edward was facing the tree, looking at a large spear stuck in the side of the trunk, pinning a skeleton to the bark.
“Still not sensing evil,” Philip said, wary of the skeleton.
Starflower crossed her arms. “That skeleton’s just a little too big to be human,” she said. She pulled out her quarter staff and approached the skeleton.
“Careful, Mi’Lady,” Regulus warned. The lion stood back, switching his tail back and forth.
Philip was staring at the spear. It had a beautiful hardwood handle. Perfectly smooth.
Starflower tapped the rib cage with her staff. The bones crumbled off the spine and shattered on the ground. “It’s really brittle. This has been here a long time,” Starflower concluded.
With some of the bones crumbling out of the way, Philip could see the spear head. Solid iron. Shiny edge, possibly of silver. Intricate etching. Somehow, he knew the spear was for him. Perhaps a gift from the OverLord himself.
“Does this come out?” Edward said, grabbing the spear. He gave it an experimental tug, but it didn’t move. Edward tried yanking on it, but it still didn’t move. Starflower and William joined him, and the three together couldn’t get it to budge. “It’s stuck,” Edward said, letting go.
“Bill! Come here,” William called to his bear. The bear lumbered forward. The bear and his bear knight put their combined strength into the effort, but to no avail.
“Step aside,” Philip said confidently. Everyone obediently made way. Philip grasped the handle. It felt good. It felt right. He could feel his spiritual gift of Hatred of Evil coming alive at the touch of the spear. Yes, his gift would empower his use of the spear. He gave it a yank. Nothing. He frowned. He felt sure it would come out at his touch.
He glanced at the rest of his team. Starflower had her brows raised, as if to say “Told you it was stuck.” Philip looked back quickly at the tree. Trees had an easy weakness to exploit. They were made of wood. In a moment, he had his hatchet in his hand, and was hacking away at the trunk where the spear was embedded. Within a couple of minutes of chopping, the spear clattered to the forest floor.
“You’re good at thinking outside the box,” Edward mumbled.
Philip didn’t respond. He had already sheathed his hatchet and was bending down to pick up the spear. He held it over his head with one hand, and turned triumphantly to his team. Today was turning out to be a good day.
The team also encountered a drunk Aladoth in the forest. As soon as Starflower smelled alcohol on his breath, they decided to leave him be and continue on their way.
The emerged from the forest mid-morning and started across the grassy plains back to Hawold.
“Greetings, travellers, may the OverLord shine brightly upon you this day, just as the sun shines brightly on our heads,” a voice called out.
Edward glanced up at the overcast sky. Did this guy even pay attention to what he was saying?
“Not the standard greeting. Weapons ready. It’s a Selfoe,” Philip hissed.
Edward slowly drew his sword from its scabbard.
“Wow, you guys looked armed for battle. Don’t you know the way of peace?” the person said, coming closer.
“Sometimes we need to fight sin,” Edward called out.
“Sure, metaphorically. We never need to actually fight anyone. God is a God of peace. He doesn’t want us to fight anyone, since he never fights anyone.”
“What, now?” Edward called out. “Haven’t you heard of the wars in the book of Joshua?”
“Old news. To be peace makers in the New Order, we must be above violence.”
Philip slapped a mosquito that landed on his arm.
“Again the violence! Murdering an innocent insect, a creation of the OverLord.”
“It’s a bug,” Philip said, surprised.
“How can you call yourselves peacemakers when your first reaction to a nuisance is to kill it?”
For a moment, Philip looked unsure of himself, holding his battle axe.
“Creation is cursed!” Edward called out. “Get lost, Selfoe! We fight the Overlord’s battles, and we don’t answer to you.”
“I go willingly, to escape the company of war makers when I am a peace maker. Good day to you!” With that, the Selfoe turned and hiked quickly away.
At mid-day, the team came back to the river they had crossed the day before. At this part of the river, the banks were lined on both sides with various villagers, fishing.
“Lunch time,” Philip called out, jumping off his horse.
The team had a pleasant picnic on the grass. They noticed several people crossing the river at a certain spot several feet downriver. Nobody seemed surprised to see them, even with a lion and a bear. They tried conversing with some, but most were preoccupied and merely grunted.
After eating, Philip took out his spear to look at it in more detail.
“Can I see that?” Starflower asked. Philip held it out to her. “There’s some markings on the tip, here,” she murmured.
“Recognize them?” Philip asked.
“Not any language I know. But I think it’s similar to those markings we saw in the silver mine.”
“Troll?” Edward asked.
“No, we know what Troll looks like. I remember Tegbat’s Grammary from Anamos Island. This is something else. I’ve never seen it before.”
“A mystery,” Philip said, taking back the spear.
“Hey, cool spear!” a passer-by commented. “Looks like the Hero Spear! Where did you get it?”
“The Hero Spear?” Starflower echoed.
“We pulled it out of a tree in the Southwestern forest.” Philip supplied.
“Ha, ha, very funny. No really, where did you get it? Did you make it yourself?”
“No. It’s as I said. We pulled it out of a big old oak tree. There was a skeleton there, too.”
“Whatever. Never mind.” The guy continued on down the river.
“Seems your spear is famous,” Starflower said.
Philip shrugged. “So it would seem.”
Further along the trail, the team rode into sight of the Western wall of Hawold.
“I sense evil!” Philip called out.
Starflower’s horse slowed to a stop. She looked around, and spotted several tomb stones off to their right. The town’s grave yard, perhaps.
“Despair!” Wailing voices came floating over the grassy fields.
“Skeletons!” Edward called out.
“Soon you will join us!” The wailing came from a couple of directions. “Why continue the fight?”
“Christ in you, the hope of glory!” Philip shouted, pumping his arm into the air. Starflower could see he was still wearing the ring he was given by the OverLord on Skeleton Island.
“Even if you win, you still lose in the end. Death comes to all! The grave is your destiny.” Starflower could make out four skeletons coming over the grassy knoll, swinging large bones like clubs.
“My destiny is heaven,” Starflower said to herself, smiling.
Philip was already spurring his horse into charging speed, his lance levelling towards the skeleton on the far left. Edward was charging the one on the far right. Regulus and Bill were on the move. But William wasn’t moving.
“William?” Starflower asked as Philip’s lance crashed into a skeleton, bones flying everywhere.
“They’re right, you know. We’re all going to die some day, anyway.”
Starflower glanced heavenward and prayed for strength. “Snap out of it, William! You know that our hope is in Christ. Dying isn’t the end of our story. Our hope is in Him, and our destiny is heaven. The grave is just a transition, not a final stop.”
William shook his head quickly. “Whoa, you’re right. Thanks. I don’t know what came over me. Sin enchantment, I take it?”
“Mm-hmm,” Starflower replied, surveying the battle. Three of the skeletons were being overwhelmed, but one was getting away. William spurred his mount to join the fray.
“Time to try my new bow and arrow set, I think,” Starflower said. She unslung the bow from her shoulder, drew an arrow, and pointed it down the field. She’d seen others do it many times. How hard could it be?
She released the arrow, only to have it fall short of her target. She quickly drew the next one and decided she needed to aim higher than her target at this range. She pulled the string back, aimed it above its head, and let fly, but this one sailed right over the skeleton. The skeleton was getting into position to attack Regulus from the side.
Only one arrow left. She nocked her last arrow, aiming a little lower this time, but still over its head. She let fly, and the black missile flew across the field, making contact with the skeleton. The arrow hit it right in the shoulder blade, shattering it, causing the entire bony arm to drop uselessly to the ground.
“I got him!” Starflower cried triumphantly, waving her bow around as Edward and Regulus finished the Dark Creature off.
After the battle, Starflower retrieved her arrows, while Philip set about smashing the bones into the smallest pieces possible.
“You alright?” Starflower asked William, who was inspecting Bill the Bear for any injuries.
“Yeah. Thanks again. Sorry for my lack of faith.”
“I was thinking about the WordRune that the horses gave us.”
“About the storm and the boat? What about it?”
“I remember that after Jesus calms the storm, he asks the disciples ‘where is your faith?’ That implies faith is something we can have but forget to use. You have plenty of faith, my friend. Don’t worry too much about it. We all forget to use it sometimes.”
William gave her a brief smile, nodded, then turned back to Bill.
The team made their way to the North Gate of Hawold and rode into town. Regulus the lion and Bill the bear decided to stay outside of town, and headed for the nearby forest for some shelter.
“Where should we go?” Edward asked as they passed the guard house and approached the Ruby Inn they had stayed at two nights ago.
“We need to find the shipment of crystal balls and stop it,” Philip remembered, looking around. “But where do we start?”
“Overlord, guide us,” Edward prayed.
“Amen!” the others chorused.
They continued walking for another block or so, looking at the houses. They noticed several houses had small crystals hanging as decorations over their doorways.
“The OverLord is with us,” a high pitched whisper suddenly said.
“Always and forever,” William said automatically, not knowing where the voice had come from.
“Up here in the tree!” the voice said.
Starflower looked up and spotted a brown squirrel in the branches of the elm tree. “Hello, there!”
“You must be the team I’m waiting for.”
“Probably,” Philip replied, squinting at the creature. “We’re an advance team to prepare the way for long-termers.”
“Yep, that’s you. I have a message from the OverLord.”
Philip glanced up and down the street. There was no one in ear shot. “Great! What is it?”
“The OverLord wanted you to know there is a Salt Warrior in this town. His name is Geoffry the leather worker.”
“Good to know!” Starflower said. “Anything else?”
“That’s it. May you succeed in your quest!”
“You too!” William called out.
The squirrel tilted her head. “My quest is to collect acorns. Thank you!” She scampered out of sight into the upper reaches of the tree.
“Geoffry the leather worker,” Edward repeated. “Where would we find a leather worker?”
Starflower grinned, “We could try the market. When I helped my dad at our market book stall growing up, the town’s leather worker also set up in the market square. If not there, then there might be a shop somewhere.”
“Okay, time to find the market,” Philip agreed. He picked a random direction and started down that street. After a few buildings, they came to an empty field, covering a city block. A sign identified the area as the fair grounds.
“Ooh, a kitty,” Starflower said, noticing a cat nearby. “This looks like the cat that was watching us at the stables the other day, I wonder if it’ll let me pet it?” She moved towards it. The cat eyed her warily, but held its ground.
“Can you use your spiritual gift to talk to it?” Philip asked.
“I can try,” Starflower said.
Edward looked around and saw someone coming down the street holding something in their hands. It turned out to be someone with a dragon statue. He said you can buy some in the market.
The team encountered Cenbald, who was thrilled to see people who looked like adventurers. They got talking, and Cenbald seemed open to the gospel, but didn’t understand that Jesus came as a human. They used the WordRune from the horses, since it mentioned Jesus sleeping in the boat, a human activity. William and Philip shared the gospel with him, and he accepted. They asked him about Geoffry the leather worker. Cenbald led them to the market and introduced them.
Geoffry was just finishing for the day, so they helped him pack up and accompanied him home, where they met his wife, Kater, and had a home cooked meal. They told him of their adventures thus far.
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