It is Spring of 1153 and no matter the weather the mail must be delivered to cities and towns in the territories. Gwendolyn sends Tobias, a patrol mouse, off with the assistance of Bryony, a Tenderpaw, to drop and deliver mail to four towns west of Lockhaven: Blackrock, Mapleharbor, Rootwallow, and Shorestone. Tobias has family and friends in Rootwallow and Shorestone so this will be an opportunity to visit for him as well. The mini patrol fail to locate a beetle to pull the small wagon through the cold spring rain, but they nonetheless boldly set off on their journey.
En route to Mapleharbor the pair is forced to find a path around a stream that is swelling with the rain and snow melt. The weather and the effort cause them to become tired before reaching Mapleharbor. They arrive to discover the town is having a problem at the harbor where they are busily unloading casks of grain for the spring planting. A hungry bird has discovered the grain and is threatening the supply as well as the boat and its crew. Tobias decides to attempt to injure the bird with an arrow to drive it away, and Bryony uses some of her herbs and knowledge of science to quickly concoct a brew to coat the arrowto cause the bird to become sick. In spite of only a glancing blow, the bird is driven off but two of the crew fall into the chilly waters. The patrol is able to throw together a makeshift rope and float to bring the mice safely to shore, though the crew mice become ill. Still, the town rejoices and most of the grain is saved and moved to a safer storage location.
Between the next towns the weather causes Tobias to fall ill but he is able to be transported on the mail wagon after his friend Clove in Rootwallowlocates a beetle to pull it. They near their final destination of Shorestown but the wagon is overturned by roots and stones washed into the path and Tobias injures his leg in the fall. What a terrible series of events! A good night's sleep at his parents' helps him feel rested but his injury and illness linger. Alas.
Game Commentary:
On the positive side I started out with some descriptions in Lockhaven, and I had somewhat of a plan for the trip based on the season information. i had a better understanding of the game than I did when we did a game run through previously without any planning. That game does not count. I guessed at some stats but my guesses were close to the actual stats which is good. I only had Tobias to play so I added Bryony, whom I had already created, as an NPC helper. That worked well too. After making many mistakes I had a good context for reviewing particular rules which was very helpful after the fact.
On the negative side, Tobias suffered for my mistakes. I did too may health tests for the weather I think, which made him have bad luck. I kept the rain going but it should only have lasted a couple days and then one test of health would have been sufficient instead of four! Also, I didn't know about the healer test that results in a mouse losing a stat, or the rder which conditions must be removed. So many rules! I did not pay attention to Bryony's tests and did not apply conditions to her but I think I should have since she may appear again. I made mistakes with circles, overusing them to get news of the towns which would probably have been given automatically. When circles tests failed I could have you used the enmity clause to bring in an enemy, but I also could have allowed Bryony to help with those tests so it all evens out. I did not have enough planning time to contemplate the towns and I forgot to do any description of them which I think would have added to the game. We did not use checks or nature very much, or the reward points, but I think brainstorming ways of getting in one's own way would be helpful at the outset. I will ask more questions next time and try to help with this so the player's turn isn't just one check long.
I will add some description in here soon of the towns we saw and what the wilderness looked like between. Tobias will return with no conditions since I feel they were given in error. We will see if his skills or traits or attributes advanced now that I better understand how that happens. All in all, playing is clearly the best way to find out the rules. Go figure. Context is important. Perhaps we will tackle a conflict in the next game, and I may add another mouse or else a second small patrol.
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