Chapter Summaries
Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:25 pm
Chapter 1 - Goblin Raid
It was a late summer morning when Octavia woke up in her bedroom, alone. Her older sister, Hallie, and her younger sister, Annissa, had already awoken and gone to do their chores. Tavi realized she had slept in again and missed breakfast.
Times had been tough in the small nation of Gontoria. Years ago, long before Tavi was born, this nation was quite prosperous. It had good trade relations with its neighbors, like Tramilar to the south. The village of Sturnheim was quite important in that regard, as it was something of a crossroads between all the larger nearby cities. But that all changed forty years ago.
A large merchant caravan, which included a gold shipment composed of much of Sturnheim's money in its cargo, disappeared. The gold had been sent away for an investment. The disappearance occurred on the road in the eastern edge of the foothills. Outraged at this loss, many merchant guilds of the surrounding larger cities collaborated and organized different routes, by passing the unfortunate village.
Determined to restore Sturnheim's honor and reputation, a band of eight adventurers combed the hills looking for traces of the caravan. Tavi's grandfather, Roland, was among them. He died, along with three others, in the process. The other four returned home failures.
Shamed by their defeat, two of the survivors left town. Of the two who remained behind, one eventually went mad and fled town, and the other stayed in Sturnheim despite the ridicule and dislike showered upon him by the villagers.
Tavi's grandmother, the now widowed Lillian, was unable to handle it. She never even knew how her husband died, and was too grief-stricken to deal with the shame and dishonor piled upon his name. She took her daughter, Aubrey--Tavi's mother--out into the country and tried to scratch out a living there.
Life was hard. It was made all the harder by the constant raids from brigands and goblins. Because Sturnheim was no longer important, the king never sent many troops to patrol the roads and keep the people there safe. One day, a soldier turned mercenary happened by and saved the ranch from such a raid. The soldier, Lindsay, fell in love with Aubrey and he decided to settle down and help her and her mother protect the ranch.
Although her parents have survived here, barely, life had not been easy. They now have three daughters and cannot marry them off as the only men nearby are from Sturnheim, and even after all of this time, there is much stigma tied to the family.
It was because of all of this that Tavi hoped to one day find a way to restore her family name and earn enough gold to keep the ranch afloat. But she'll never do that at this rate. Her mother won't even let her visit town. She's never seen anything of the world outside of this ranch.
Tavi went to the dining table and was served a cold breakfast by her grandmother, who warned her about her mother's wrath about her sleeping in. Tavi refused to take responsibility for this, claiming it was her older sister's fault for not waking her (she suspected accidentally ruining her dress might be why Hallie neglected to do so). Hoping to make up for things, Tavi went to sweep out the barn.
Before lunch, Tavi found her father and asked him to put in a good word for her to her mother. He wasn't thrilled by this, but easily succumbed to his daughter's charms and agreed, but only if she helped him out with the horses later.
During lunch, Hallie tried getting Tavi in trouble by 'casually' bringing up her sister's late awakening. Tavi again tried to push the blame for this on Hallie for not waking her. Their father intervened, by bringing up the idea of taking the three girls into town (Sturnheim) tomorrow. This stunned all three girls, who had never seen the world outside of their home.
Their mother was dead-set against it. Everyone was against her, though, so she consented to at least 'think about it' which was more of a victory than the girls could have hoped for.
Tavi went out to help her father with the horses. They only had two left, a stallion and a mare, and were hoping to breed them. The rest of the horses had long ago been sold away just to make ends meet or slain/stolen in goblin/bandit raids. But, the mare was pregnant and going to deliver today.
However, they discovered the foal was stuck. Tavi attempted to calm the mare while her father tried to pull the foal out. But Tavi failed to do so (failing both animal handle checks). Her father sent her to go get her mother to help, but by the time Tavi did so, it was too late. Both the mare and her foal had died.
The loss cast a dark gloom over the family for the rest of the night. Without those horses, the family was all but doomed. That night, Tavi sneaked into the barn where her father kept his old adventuring gear in a trunk. This includes his old long sword, light crossbow and bolts, studded leather armor, waterskin, footman's mace, medium shield (with the family crest on it; a black winged horse on a white background), rope, and backpack. She also found 12 gp squirreled away, long forgotten. She grabbed some food from the pantry, left 10 gp on the table, and then took a lantern and headed off into the night.
Her goal was to head to Sturnheim and make her fortune, so she could return and use that money to save the ranch. She didn't even make it to the main road, though, before she heard two people arguing and wrestling in the brush. Investigating, she discovered it was a pair of goblins. She tried speaking to them, but they quickly attacked. Drawing her sword, she quickly cut them both down.
As she looted their bodies for coin, she suddenly realized that it was unusual for two goblins to be out here on their own. It occurred to her they were scouts or possibly lookouts. Hurrying, she ran back home only to find the place was on fire and under attack from a much larger force.
She killed another goblin, who had been distracted by the flames. She heard her father's voice in the barn, but her sister's screams in the house. Deciding her father could take care of himself, she went in the house (forgetting that she had stolen all of her father's gear, including his weapons and armor).
In the living room, she found two more goblins torching the place. She cut down one, but the other smacked her pretty hard in the face (critical hit). She then cut that one down, and switched to her crossbow as she entered the bedroom.
Inside, Tavi found her grandmother lying face down in a pool of her own blood. Meanwhile, her little sister was tied up and being shoved through the window by some goblins. Tavi shot a goblin in the back, but it wasn't a lethal blow. Outraged, the goblin stabbed Tavi in the chest with his spear. Then she collapsed, darkness taking her.
It was a late summer morning when Octavia woke up in her bedroom, alone. Her older sister, Hallie, and her younger sister, Annissa, had already awoken and gone to do their chores. Tavi realized she had slept in again and missed breakfast.
Times had been tough in the small nation of Gontoria. Years ago, long before Tavi was born, this nation was quite prosperous. It had good trade relations with its neighbors, like Tramilar to the south. The village of Sturnheim was quite important in that regard, as it was something of a crossroads between all the larger nearby cities. But that all changed forty years ago.
A large merchant caravan, which included a gold shipment composed of much of Sturnheim's money in its cargo, disappeared. The gold had been sent away for an investment. The disappearance occurred on the road in the eastern edge of the foothills. Outraged at this loss, many merchant guilds of the surrounding larger cities collaborated and organized different routes, by passing the unfortunate village.
Determined to restore Sturnheim's honor and reputation, a band of eight adventurers combed the hills looking for traces of the caravan. Tavi's grandfather, Roland, was among them. He died, along with three others, in the process. The other four returned home failures.
Shamed by their defeat, two of the survivors left town. Of the two who remained behind, one eventually went mad and fled town, and the other stayed in Sturnheim despite the ridicule and dislike showered upon him by the villagers.
Tavi's grandmother, the now widowed Lillian, was unable to handle it. She never even knew how her husband died, and was too grief-stricken to deal with the shame and dishonor piled upon his name. She took her daughter, Aubrey--Tavi's mother--out into the country and tried to scratch out a living there.
Life was hard. It was made all the harder by the constant raids from brigands and goblins. Because Sturnheim was no longer important, the king never sent many troops to patrol the roads and keep the people there safe. One day, a soldier turned mercenary happened by and saved the ranch from such a raid. The soldier, Lindsay, fell in love with Aubrey and he decided to settle down and help her and her mother protect the ranch.
Although her parents have survived here, barely, life had not been easy. They now have three daughters and cannot marry them off as the only men nearby are from Sturnheim, and even after all of this time, there is much stigma tied to the family.
It was because of all of this that Tavi hoped to one day find a way to restore her family name and earn enough gold to keep the ranch afloat. But she'll never do that at this rate. Her mother won't even let her visit town. She's never seen anything of the world outside of this ranch.
Tavi went to the dining table and was served a cold breakfast by her grandmother, who warned her about her mother's wrath about her sleeping in. Tavi refused to take responsibility for this, claiming it was her older sister's fault for not waking her (she suspected accidentally ruining her dress might be why Hallie neglected to do so). Hoping to make up for things, Tavi went to sweep out the barn.
Before lunch, Tavi found her father and asked him to put in a good word for her to her mother. He wasn't thrilled by this, but easily succumbed to his daughter's charms and agreed, but only if she helped him out with the horses later.
During lunch, Hallie tried getting Tavi in trouble by 'casually' bringing up her sister's late awakening. Tavi again tried to push the blame for this on Hallie for not waking her. Their father intervened, by bringing up the idea of taking the three girls into town (Sturnheim) tomorrow. This stunned all three girls, who had never seen the world outside of their home.
Their mother was dead-set against it. Everyone was against her, though, so she consented to at least 'think about it' which was more of a victory than the girls could have hoped for.
Tavi went out to help her father with the horses. They only had two left, a stallion and a mare, and were hoping to breed them. The rest of the horses had long ago been sold away just to make ends meet or slain/stolen in goblin/bandit raids. But, the mare was pregnant and going to deliver today.
However, they discovered the foal was stuck. Tavi attempted to calm the mare while her father tried to pull the foal out. But Tavi failed to do so (failing both animal handle checks). Her father sent her to go get her mother to help, but by the time Tavi did so, it was too late. Both the mare and her foal had died.
The loss cast a dark gloom over the family for the rest of the night. Without those horses, the family was all but doomed. That night, Tavi sneaked into the barn where her father kept his old adventuring gear in a trunk. This includes his old long sword, light crossbow and bolts, studded leather armor, waterskin, footman's mace, medium shield (with the family crest on it; a black winged horse on a white background), rope, and backpack. She also found 12 gp squirreled away, long forgotten. She grabbed some food from the pantry, left 10 gp on the table, and then took a lantern and headed off into the night.
Her goal was to head to Sturnheim and make her fortune, so she could return and use that money to save the ranch. She didn't even make it to the main road, though, before she heard two people arguing and wrestling in the brush. Investigating, she discovered it was a pair of goblins. She tried speaking to them, but they quickly attacked. Drawing her sword, she quickly cut them both down.
As she looted their bodies for coin, she suddenly realized that it was unusual for two goblins to be out here on their own. It occurred to her they were scouts or possibly lookouts. Hurrying, she ran back home only to find the place was on fire and under attack from a much larger force.
She killed another goblin, who had been distracted by the flames. She heard her father's voice in the barn, but her sister's screams in the house. Deciding her father could take care of himself, she went in the house (forgetting that she had stolen all of her father's gear, including his weapons and armor).
In the living room, she found two more goblins torching the place. She cut down one, but the other smacked her pretty hard in the face (critical hit). She then cut that one down, and switched to her crossbow as she entered the bedroom.
Inside, Tavi found her grandmother lying face down in a pool of her own blood. Meanwhile, her little sister was tied up and being shoved through the window by some goblins. Tavi shot a goblin in the back, but it wasn't a lethal blow. Outraged, the goblin stabbed Tavi in the chest with his spear. Then she collapsed, darkness taking her.