Turn 2 (Year 1, Fall)

The Dreamdust elves are circling the literal and metaphorical wagons to protect our goats and dogs and people from these lizardy interlopers. We have made signs (“We are new here. We did not burn anything. Please stop attacking and talk to us.”) in common at the top and a variety of languages at the bottom, and placed the signs around the edges of our settlement (newly named Riverhaven).

Economic

Just in case, we are setting traps. First, we’re stringing some dirt-colored string with dulled bells around the edges of camp, to help alert our daytime sentries. Then, within that boundary, we’re setting nonlethal but unpleasant traps. This consists primarily of pressure triggers that fling goat dung into lizard-face-height. If one of our elves or goats accidentally trigger one, they’ll be unhappy, but not harmed. But it will be a big distraction that might let us hit a few with blowdarts in the meantime.

We use the Investment trapping of the Infrastructure skill to build and hide these traps.

Roll: Skill 1 dice + 1 ability dice + 1 upgrade

Results: 0 advantage, 3 successes, 0 triumphs

Political

Can’t be too careful right now, we’re keeping an eye out.

We use the Cloak & Dagger trapping of the Spycraft skill to keep an eye out for spies.

Roll: Skill 1 dice + 1 ability dice

Results: 3 advantage, 1 successes, 0 triumphs

Military

We hide a bunch of our rangers with blowdarts among the settlement. If they attack again, we’ll be ready to counter.

We use the Guerilla operations trapping of the Special Operations skill to lay in wait for the lizard things.

Roll: Skill 2 dice + 1 ability dice + 1 upgrade dice

Results: 1 advantage, 1 successes, 0 triumphs

Mental

We’re asking around! What are these lizard things. Where do they come from. What do they want. Other than our goats. We ask any locals we can find, and send dream messages to the flappies, to see if they’ve ever heard of anything fitting this description. And also to let them know that if we vanish those probably killed us. One of the Dreamdust elves who are still there (the dreamdust elves were absolutely just caring for the few pack animals that went the full way with the winged elves, definitely not poking around at all, didn’t you know) can send a message back to us.

We use the Research trapping of the Academics skill to research these lizard things.

Roll: Skill 1 dice + 1 ability dice

Results: 3 advantage, 0 successes, 0 triumphs

Turn 2 Results

Economic- The traps are a success! It costs a lot of resources, time, and effort setting them all up (as well as the warning signs,) but it pays off. The first raid that happens after your preparations definitely hits the traps. For the full outcome of that raid, see below. However, as far as the traps go, they were definitely a success. The noise they made gave you warning, and they definitely seemed to slow down and frustrate the lizardfolk. However, the lizardfolk did manage to make off with a not inconsiderable amount of supplies - including stealing some of the traps and signs.

If you make an Infrastructure check next turn, it will take a setback die due to lack of raw materials for the moment.

Political- Keeping an eye out for interlopers turns out to have been a good idea. Your watchers were expecting sneaky lizardfolk maybe, sneaking into the camp to look for valuable supplies. They were not expecting what actually happened.

Late at night, your watchers were sneaking around the perimeter, hoping to find any interlopers. They heard rattling from one of the noisemaker traps set earlier. In the moonlight, one of them noticed something moving on top of one of the nearby hills where the trap had been set. With a few other sneaky elves as help, your watcher went to check it out.

The interloper sighted them as they were sneaking up the hill. They had apparently been hiding under some kind of blanket or tarp, concealing their position and body shape. The figure bolted immediately upon realizing they were spotted. Your watchers report that they appeared to be an elf, dressed in some kind of cloak and wearing riding boots, judging by the tracks.

Your watchers gave chase, but after a few minutes of running they hit open ground. The spy put their fingers to their mouth and made a piercingly loud whistle. Another elf wearing a poncho and a mask appeared out of nowhere, riding a horse. How they managed to do that is still baffling. The rider scooped up the spy and the two bolted. The horse was far, far too fast for your watchers to keep up with. Seriously, it was extremely fast.

Still, no one was injured and your watchers examined the spy’s observation point and estimate they had only been there a couple minutes. It seems they simply hit the noisemaker trap by sheer bad luck. Whoever they were, they didn’t manage to get much if any information about you.

Military- Your newly trained rangers lie in wait for raiders. For like, a couple weeks. The boredom of sitting around hiding and annoyance of having to do so wears on them quite a bit. It’s good training though, as they’ll need patience. When the raid actually happens, they aren’t as effective as they could have been. Many shots miss in the glare of the sun. Response is slower than it should be. Still, they were undetected until they attacked and the sheer fact that armed resistance happened this time caught the lizardfolk off guard. They still got away with an amount of supplies, but far less than last time and without any casualties on your end. Your rangers mark it up as a learning experience.

A Chance Encounter

Mental- Frustratingly, no one you have spoken to knows anything about these specific lizardfolk. You do get some information about lizardfolk in general, however. It seems that while lizardfolk are spread out all over the continent in various forms, they share a common language root. If you learn the lizardfolk language that you are aware of, you may be able to communiacte with them, at least in basic concepts. You also find a winged elf who knows lizardfolk and is willing to teach.

While it’s not exactly what you were hoping to get, the conversations and contacts your researchers make while hunting for information get them invigorated. Your mental skill check next turn will receive a boost die.

Event: Raiders

Status: Unknown

The season ends before the scheduled meeting. The dreamdust elves do not know if the attacks have truly stopped or nor, or the status of Tik’Tak’s message. Still, they haven’t suffered any attacks in the meantime. They are hopeful.

Further, your defenses against the raid helped. While the lizardfolk did get away with some supplies, it wasn’t enough to make a huge impact. You do not suffer stress this turn, however your stress is still not healing naturally and you still suffer any other side effects of the event.