Session 2: Over the Slumbering Mountains
In the morning, the party finds a black ram standing in the middle of the road outside the inn. It is entirely too calm for a ram. It makes eye contact with each party member in turn. When approached, it speaks.
‘You have the look of heroes,’ the ram says, in a voice like gravel rolling downhill. ‘Or at least of people who can be pointed at a problem and trusted to make it worse in an interesting way. Bremen Town Musicians Travel and Transport. That’s who I work for. We’ve got a job — escort a Count and Countess and their young ward across the Slumbering Mountains to Bremen. They’re waiting at the south gate.’ He pauses. ‘Keep a close eye on the girl. In particular.’
DM NOTE
Baa is an employee of the Bremen Town Musicians Travel and Transport Company — a legitimate (if eccentric) courier and escort service operated by the Bremen Town Musicians. He is not a divine agent, though he is rather more perceptive than a ram has any right to be. He is cryptic by disposition, not design. He genuinely does not know everything. If the party asks why the girl needs watching, he says: ‘Above my pay grade. The Musicians will brief you properly when you arrive in Bremen.’
The Count and Countess
Count Aldric and Countess Vespera are immaculately dressed, coolly polite, and travel with a single trunk that they will not allow anyone to touch. Their ward is Princess Sable — daughter of Queen Snow White of Germonia — a girl of about ten with dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and the watchful, measuring eyes of someone who has grown up in a court. She does not speak unless spoken to. She does not eat enthusiastically at mealtimes. She is paying close attention to everything.
DM NOTE
This is the party’s first meeting with Sable, though they do not yet know her full significance. She is being escorted northward for reasons the Count and Countess are not entirely forthcoming about. She is not in danger yet — but she is already the most important person in the carriage, and she knows it. Sable reappears in Sessions 11–17 and becomes a central figure in the campaign’s overarching arc involving Dagon and the ancient Germonian debt.
| NPC | Key Notes |
| Count Aldric | Tall, thin, silver-haired. Formal to the point of rudeness. Will not discuss why they need an escort. Carries a silver-handled cane. |
| Countess Vespera | Warm voice, cold eyes. Does all the social work. Offers the party wine. DC 14 Insight: she is afraid of something, not merely inconvenienced. |
| Princess Sable | Daughter of Queen Snow White of Germonia. Age 10. Quiet and watchful. Will ask one party member, privately: ‘Do you know why my mother sent me away?’ She suspects the answer is not reassuring. |
The Journey: Slumbering Mountains
The Slumbering Mountains are named for the low, constant rumble that runs through the rock — like distant snoring. Local legend says a god sleeps beneath them. The road is good but the pass narrows to single file in three places. Use the travel encounter table below, choosing 2–3 based on pacing.
| Roll d6 | Encounter |
| 1–2 | Dimitri — a young shepherd boy who has lost a goat. He will follow the party for two hours if they help him. He knows every path through the mountains and will share them freely. |
| 3–4 | Fire Fairies — a swarm of small, bright sprites who have set a section of road alight out of boredom. DC 13 Persuasion to convince them to stop; DC 15 Performance to impress them into helping the party instead. |
| 5 | Rockslide — DC 13 Athletics to clear the path before the Count’s coach is damaged. Failure: one wheel cracked, travel slows by half a day. |
| 6 | The Watching Trees — old growth forest flanking the road. DC 14 Perception: eyes in the bark, watching the trunk the Count carries specifically. |
Leave a Reply