Year 1 - Fall

Staurois paces uncomfortably across the porch of the Hylidae raft. Smilisca sits on a stump that’s been bolted to the deck boards and works on tying a complicated knot in the map braid for the Goldfall River. Acris watches his master’s hands intently from where he sits at his feet, practicing his own knots by tying them in fishing line next to Eina with her feet dangling in the cool clear water. Litoria stands in the shallow water next to the raft, leaning gently on her hippopotamus while she grazes.

“This is a disaster, no?” Staurois grumbles, “Mais, we’re supposed to be turnin’ round to head back downstream for Winter Quarters, and now we stuck in da mud like sticks, we.”

“Oh sha, but it’s not all bad,” Eina remarks. “We ain’t lost the extra that Locke,” she pauses while Litoria spits onto the rocky shore, “hem, Locke left us. We ken use it, weh?”

Litoria nods. Smilisca continues work on his knot. Staurois paces more.

“Smilisca, you got da plans for buildin’ a ‘fall ‘hopper?” Staurois looks hopefully to the navigator.

Smilisca taps his head mutely, continuing the work on the braid. The knot to indicate a waterfall is a complex one, with a series of loops hanging from it to indicate the fall’s height.

“Maybe we should jus’ turn round, like the plan, no?” Acris makes a hopeful suggestion, but it’s met with a grim silence.

“Mais no!” Eina finally exclaims, “We can’t leave until we find Parrain Bufo or at least confirm he with the Resting, he is.”

Staurois rubs a webbed hand over the spots on his bald head. A nervous habit.

“Then we stay here.” Litoria’s voice is defiant. “I’ll look, me. This brook ain’t a swamp, but we’re not swamp elves, we’re river elves, and this a river. We ken track where a flood should puttin down what it pickin up, weh.”

“Take da Crocodilians.” Staurois nods agreement, finally. “More lookin should help find Parrain Bufo faster. We’ll focus on gittin erselves unstuck to head downstream ‘gain.”

“I had a vision.” Eina’s words are quiet. All eyes turn to her and even Staurois stops pacing. “I saw a Behemoth, an it walked up a ‘fall. In is wake, the water were stiller ‘dan a bayou.” Litoria’s expression softens to a contemplative concern while her cousin’s dark glare shifts to show distinct fear. Staurois looks to his cleric, beckoning her to continue with an open webbed palm.

“I think we go up it too, me.” Eina nods. “We ken be late gettin back down da river. Winters here ain’t so rough we cain’t be movin in em, no? Havin’ somethin’ go right fer us would lift spirits, en calm da waters.”

“We all need calm waters, sha,” Staurois puts a gentle hand on the cleric’s shoulder. A decision has been made.

Economic: With Eina motivating the work efforts with the blessings of Calestros, work begins on building a lift - a “fall hopper” - made of pulleys and sturdy ropes with boulders for counterbalance. They put to use the extra materials on hand that were left over from the original raft construction projects. This makes use of the Investment trapping of Infrastructure with 2 Ability, 1 Proficiency, and 2 Boost dice: 5 advantage, 3 successes, 0 triumphs.

Political: Staurois moves through the flotilla, making sure that everyone has what they need to repair their rafts - supplies, elfpower, medical assistance. Spending a Fate point to invoke the aspect, Sure as the current, we will keep moving on, the river elves add repairs to their still new rafts. Using the Rebuilding trapping of Recovery, he rolls 1 Ability, 1 Proficiency dice to transfer the stress to the Economy track: 1 advantage, 1 successes, 0 triumphs.

Military: Litoria, most of the scouts, and slightly more than half the Crocodilians scour the riverbanks, prodding in the bottoms of pools, and sending their companion gators to root through mud and debris where it has collected. They follow the predictable courses of the river, noting where high water should flow, where debris from the flood has collected, and where water should continue to flow. They look for blockages, accidental dams, anything that could indicate a stuck and injured elf in the mud, or failing that, a body. The other half of the Crocodilians set up a rotating watch around the parked flotilla, hoping they will be able to spot Parrain Bufo if he stumbles home on his own.

To do this, Litoria invokes the current terrain aspect: River, since rivers are mathematically predictable things. This uses the Pathfinders trapping of Reconnaissance and rolls 2 Ability, 1 Proficiency dice: 2 advantage, 2 successes, 0 triumphs.

Mental: Smilisca uses this opportunity to teach Acris how to record an accurate technical diagram that will withstand such events as flash floods without disintegrating on sodden paper. Acris’s first embroidered diagram on clean linen is a bit rough, but it gets the drawing down. They use the Research trapping of Academics to record the schematics for the barge lift, rolling 1 Ability dice: 1 advantage, 1 successes, 0 triumphs.

Meanwhile, Staurois dispatches messengers in kayaks in both directions - upstream and down - to let their friends in the newly constructed Winged Elf hideout and the elderly Fort Alfyr both know how they fare. The message to Ehra mentions specifically that they expect to be late passing through again this year.

Results

Your messages to the Blade Elves goes through. Ehra expresses his deep sadness at this tragedy, and if you need any help just ask. He also states that though it can’t support your population forever, you’re family to them. Fort Álfyr is always open to you.

Interestingly, the winged elves have also sent a messenger to you. The winged elves are relieved to know that the river elves are surviving. They are currently having problems of their own, however. It appears that the box canyon around Goldfall waterfall was once home to another settlement, and that settlement was destroyed by violence. Regardless, the flappies have set up among the cliffside caves in the box canyon.

Economic: “We’re not swamp elves, we’re river elves, and this is a river.”

If, in the future, this turn is in a history book this will be a title chapter.

One more tragedy, on top of countless others. Others may have broken. Others may have retreated. Others may have just limped back to the Fort, broken and hurting. They may even have been able to convince themselves that it was a good idea. In any other circumstances, for another people, it may have been.

But these are the river elves.

Something clicks among your people. You have lost so much and now, on the brink of starting your people back on the path they so badly desire, this happens. It seems, however, that the river elves are unbroken.

Word of Eina’s vision spread among the river elves. Word of Smilisca’s work as well. Far from alone, the best raft engineers and river navigation experts offer their help. Everyone who can help in any way does. The brightest minds you have left work day and night on a plan to defeat this waterfall, which to many become something of a symbol. A wall, a last challenge to overcome. It is just one more thing, the focus of all the pain your people have suffered, and they will not be defeated this time.

Without a single person asking, hundreds of builders and engineers come together to work on the fall hopper. As opposed to suffering and crying, the river elves come together with song and cheer. Once the plans are complete, work begins. The river elves suffer no shortage of labor or strong backs. Massive stones are brought in from the surrounding valleys, pulled on ropes by teams of river elves.

Day and night, there is never a time when the fall hopper isn’t covered in dozens of river elves singing work songs and chatting happily. The sounds of hammers echoes down the river. Typical to the river elves, they cover up their pain with joyful music and throw themselves into their work in a way they never quite have before.

For Eina, things feel right. For Smilisca, weeks pass in a haze. It’s as if he is possessed, as if another hand guides his in creating a work of wonder.

And that it is.

Months of furious work after the great flood, your workers and engineers step back to look at an engineering marvel - and a marvel it truly is. As if waking up from a dream, your people are shocked at the scale and complexity of the device they have built. The fall hopper is complete.

Every river elf stands in breathless patience as Smilisca’s raft becomes the first raft locked into the fall hopper. Strong river elves roll one of the most clever pieces of the construction into place - a water wheel. If this blasted river is so powerful, we can use its strength to our advantage. As the waterfall’s power begins to rotate the wheel, Smilisca’s raft is slowly hoisted into the air. The beams creak and groan under the immense amount of force they are placed under, but rise the raft does. As it reaches the top of the tower, a cheer breaks out among the river elves. Shouts of joy, families embracing, and whoops and howls of victory.

Aborder Falls is defeated. The fall hopper works.

The absolute joy your people feel towards the project has filled your engineers with confidence and joy. If you use an Infrastructure skill next turn, it gains a bonus die.

Furthermore, Smilisca’s designs are a work of true genius - no, the river elves’ designs. All of your best remaining engineers worked on the project. It is truly a testament to the strength and the talent of the river elves. The difficulty of building a fall hopper is permanently reduced by one, and building fall hoppers for larger waterfalls or canals may be possible.

Political: A large amount of your people’s work effort and willpower is devoted to the fall hopper this turn, but Staurois is determined to make sure that no one is forgotten. He hasn’t forgotten the single most important thing to thing to a river elf - sure as the current, they will move on. A flotilla that can’t move is no flotilla at all, wherever they are. Startois throws himself into helping his people rebuild, supporting them day and night. His true dedication to spending every waking hour helping rebuild is an inspiration. Though nearly every spare resource available goes into the fall hopper, the flotilla isn’t forgotten.

By the end of the season, the flotilla is patched up. Many families are sharing rafts and some rafts are barely afloat, but you’re back into a functional state at least.

Move one stress point from the property track to the economy track.

Military: River elves, obviously, know how to follow a river. The flow of water is easy enough for them to follow, as is the trail of debris and rubble. It only takes them a few days of searching to find Parrain Bufo. Unfortunately, hopes of finding him alive have long dwindled. Talk of finding him knocked unconscious, stuck in the mud, or having amnesia fade.

A few miles downstream from Aborder falls, a small gap in the stones on the edge of the river bank has let a large amount of water drain into a small subterranean grotto. This grotto is where Parrain Bufo has come to rest.

It appears he was knocked unconscious by the beam that struck him in the head, and drug along the rocky river bed. He never regained consciousness. Small mercy, as he would have felt little pain.

His body has washed up onto the gravel shore of the cave. It is a calm place. The only sound is the steady hum of the rushing river above, with a small crack in the cave roof above providing warm illumination. Despite his injuries, Parrain Bufo appears as if he has simply laid down to rest by the bank of the river.

Parrain Bufo is laid to his final rest, in a method of your choosing.

Over the following weeks of the construction of the fall hopper, Parrain Bufo’s fate becomes known to the flotilla. It becomes known as a place of peace and quiet. Asper and Caete make a visit to the grotto, and with simple clay pigments write a message:

“We won’t forget, Parrain Bufo.”

As time goes by, more messages are written on the grotto’s walls. It becomes a refuge, a place for prayer and meditation - and for saying goodbye. Messages of farewell are written to river elves who didn’t make it this far, and it seems most days there are at least five or six river elves sitting quietly in the grotto.

Eina visits one day, and as she contemplates the messages on the wall something comes to her - Calestros’ message.

“Oh, love, just do what you always do!”

How does a river elf always begin a new journey?

By saying goodbye to the ones left behind.

Eina smiles and begins to stand. She slips just slightly in the loose sandy gravel of the grotto and places a hand down to steady herself. As her fingers dig into the gravel she feels something hard and dry under her fingers. Curious, she knocks some of the loose gravel away.

There, under the loose gravel and soil, is a partial pelvic bone that she immediately recognizes as having belonged to a hippo.

The peace given by the location now known as Oarsman’s Rest provides you with a bonus die that you may use on any action that involves the efforts of the common river elves next turn.

Mental: Acris takes to recording the technical diagram well. Determined to get it right, Acris puts quite a bit of effort into the diagram and is successful! The decreased difficulty of creating fall hoppers will persist even if your flotilla suffers another great tragedy like the flood and you may use similar mental actions to preserve bonuses in some situations. However, Acris seems to make up for skill with enthusiasm and determination. This wastes a large amount of diagram materials, and Smilisca sends him on dozens of trips to hunt for more materials along river banks.

Actions involve Acris next turn receive a setback die, due to him having his hands full with apprentice duties.

Event Resolved: Flash Flood

The river elves’ confidence is restored. Partager flows again. Things are still difficult and everyone knows they will never be the same again. The river elves will never be able to return to the exact culture they had before and will likely have to change even more as time goes on, and they all know that now. The difference is that now they are confident. Now, they know that the strength of their minds and their arms can carry them through. That, and their hearts. The story of Eina’s vision, Oarsman’s Rest, the discovery of the hippo bone, and the dreamlike quality everyone felt during the construction of the fall hopper - these things give your people a feeling that there is something greater ahead, and they are willing to face it.

The Event is resolved, and beginning next turn your stress will begin to recover normally.

Due to how rapidly the river elves constructed an honest to Calestros engineering marvel, you can move half the distance you normally could this turn.

Your people’s dynamic solution to their Event has given you a permanent upgrade. Due to the unique methods they used to solve it, this upgrade may be applied to one of the following skills: Infrastructure, Academics, or Spirituality.

Further, on a lighter note, as winter rolls in it seems like it’s going to be a mild one even for this climate. It’ll be a bit chilly, but it’s very unlikely that temperatures will drop under freezing more than once or twice at least in this region.

Having defeated the waterfall, Partager turns around and heads downriver again, and makes it within spitting distance of Fort Alfyr before the weather changes.

As an Oarsman and a Raft Builder, Parrain Bufo is given to his final rest by being entombed in the foundations of their construction project. He will always be a part of that effort which permits the flotilla to move on.

With the river elves’ spending time to say farewell to those they’ve lost, they grow more attuned to their more contemplative natures. They gain an upgrade to the Spirituality skill through the lessons learned at Oarsman’s Rest.