Hi Everyone,
I have just purchased the Kal-Arath compendium rules #1(Kal-Arath, The Valley of the Black Ziggurat, Lords of the Pit) from Lulu.com, and this is my first solo mission, setting out into the world. I like it, I will be buying the supplements.
Episode 1 - First Blood.
Meet Mal-Shui, Our hero.
Mal-Shui - Strength = 1, Toughness = 2, Agility = 1, Intelligence = -1, Presence = 1
Male Human. Age =24. Brown eyes, 6'1" tall. Longsword, (Attack +1, Damage +1)
Hp. Max =7, Current =6.
Equipment
Longsword, Staff (Homebrew Item = Easy to find and make.) Dagger.
5 days' rations in a sack. Waterskin. Rough blue tunic, an animal fur
cloak, tinder and flint. Silver Coins = 4.
Game Mechanics
Resolution=2d6+STAT.
8+= Standard success.
If the task is very difficult = roll 2d6 and pick the lowest.
Two 6's= Critical Success. Two 1's= Critical failure.
Initiative = d6+ADI. 4+ They go first.
Range Attack= 2d6+agi>8.
Melee Attack=2d6+str +(Longsword+1)>8
Encumbrance = 9 items.
Episode 1 - First Blood. You are in your home village of Scaleel, a small, depressing village in the middle of the grasslands, which is in decline. It is on high ground at the edge of a marsh. They sell dried Besa fish to traders and travellers who go to and from Gozami, the nearest town to the west. You have heard from travellers that the mighty city of Thraz is somewhere far to the east.
Your goal in life is to join the famed Black Legion by winning in the fighting Pits in Thraz. You have made up your mind that you are not going to wait around any longer. Today, you are actually going to do it. You say farewell to your friends in the village and set out on your long journey.
Season - Autumn. Weather - Early snow flurries.
You make time plodding along the track at the side of the local marsh, where you have fished your whole life. An hour into your travel, you see a wizard, Jis-Kel, probably coming from the next village over, Goritan to the east, but he missed the usual path. He is friendly, and I confirm the path back to Scaleel for him. He thanks me and starts on his way. I skirt the main body of water ahead and head NE.
I meet a party of treasure seekers, who nod to me as they pass by (roll neutral in motives). They do not seem to be in the mood to chat, so I do not enquire what lies ahead. Later, I pass into hillier foothills and stop for a break, where I would normally have a good view of the surrounding area, if the snow-filled clouds would lift a bit. I gather some branches off some dry bushes and break them up into a bundle, just in case there is nothing where I have to make camp.
I meet some Khainar yak herders coming down from the higher plains, dressed in bright headscarves. I mentioned a few minutes ago that I had seen a terradun nesting on the cliff ledge, which would be too fearsome to attack alone, but together we can take it down. We discuss the problem and decide to shoot it at range from the clifftop, and I will dispatch it, if needed, with my sword.
Terradum =19 HP.
We sneak up to the cliff edge and the archers loose off a volley of arrows. (A sneak attack.) The archers are very good; 4 shots hit it (attack rolls 9, 9, 4, 8, 10 = 14-4 tough hide damage =10, 9 hp left).
It cannot fly, and it is mortally wounded. I climb down a rope to finish it off, along with the chicks. I slip partwaydown and get friction burns on my hands. (=1hp damage). I land on the 15-foot-wide ledge, covered with scattered bones of its previous meals.
(Initiative 6+1=7 - Mal Gains initiative.)
It lunges down at me with its beak, but I can tell that it is weak through its wounds. It tries to peck me again, I bat the beak away again with my sword, and I slash at its throat.
(13, hit = Damage Exploding 6+6 -1 hide =11 damage, = -2 hp, Roll 9 on death table = automatically stunned, helpless).
The resulting wound sprays an arc of blood, and it gives out a gurgling cry. I stand back and let the blood loss do its work. It is soon dead, and the chicks are covered in their mother's blood. I dispatch them with a quick twist of their necks.
Then we haul up the carcass, the chicks and the egg in a sack. Then break out the firewood to have a feast. I have now bonded with the Kainar tribesfolk. They give me a Terradon tooth on a necklace with the tribal symbol carved on it. They tell tall tales of giant red and yellow stick beasts which hunt lone travellers who dare go into the Red Mountains.
They sing the praises of the plains and the joys of the simple life. Mal replied that he wanted to see some of the world before he settled down with a family. They laughed and agreed that is a good idea. I salute their brave warriors. I gain 6 rations from the feast, together with part of an egg shell to use as a cooking bowl. I now have 9 rations in total. We dance long into the night, as it is not often that a Terradum is killed, so to get four in one go is a great achievement. We have no night encounters.
The end of day 1.
Map 1a- Day 1. Scale: 1 hex= 6 miles.
Mal's home village is on the left edge. Mal foraged in the first marsh hex to the east and found nothing apart from the wizard and the treasure seekers. NE is the hills with the Yak folk. Mal has covered about 15 miles and eaten 2 rations on the move.
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I am using "Wilderness Encounters" from drivethruRPG.com to give me more setting information.
There is more to come in episodes 2 - 5 (with episode 6 in draft).
Regards all,
Ivor Cogdell
Kal-Arath (C) Copyright 2023 Castle Grief.
Permission to copy for personal use.
Terradon pictures (C) Copyright? Meta.AI.
"The Warrior" Artwork # 0276 (C) Copyright 19 May 2008 Ivor Cogdell.
Map 1a Artwork and Exploring Kal-Arath (C) Copyright 2026 Ivor Cogdell.
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