We have a Bonus Feat up this weekend, the playtest for previously mentioned Skull Diggers. This episode is on Youtube to show how the various systems play, and make sure to check out the Kickstarter as well!
Fire Patrol will conclude here shortly but for now, we also have our Beam Saber Bonus Feat up with both episodes available!
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Heat 16 - Fire Patrol Cools Off
With the restoration of Dorigift and Glipledge planned, now comes the hard part - actually putting it back together. And doing that requires resources. Sable, Lily, Zeke, and Tander have to find some allies willing to help, and reach out to nearby towns for their aid. The Fire Patrol’s mission is nearly over, but cannot go home until they see the job is done.
Today’s episode was edited by Riley.
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So zeke and tander were helping pilot a literal duck boat.
Letters From Friends, Heat 1149
Matriarch’s Diary; August 18th, 1149
Today I struck a name from our rolls. The decision has been weighing on me. Now it is made. Those who took up arms to turn our order inside out and rewrite our mission will have their names and punishments recorded as indelibly as ink can. But the one who was trusted to be the lynchpin, who brought ruin and deliverance in equal measure, has been given the gift of forgetting. I hope it is seen as such. I will never know.
Guardmouse Francesca: I have not yet killed the Tunnel Lord Lena. This is unfortunate. I have acquired several new weapons. I have journeyed to the western scent barrier and beyond. She has evaded me. If you or your order have any information on her specific whereabouts I would appreciate the assistance. A tactical survey of her close associates would be quite helpful as well. If it is prohibited to share such information I accept that. I simply wish to kill her very badly. You understand.
-Harford
Hey Tander!
It’s Aiden, and have I got news for you (the answer is yes I have news)! So I kept sneaking around Tito Taylor’s place after he told us not to do that because I’m a better hider than he is a looker and if he said not to then there’s probably something cool to see like THE TRUTH. After we saw that fire and you had to leave and the fire went away I was still looking. I didn’t see anything. So then! I used my sneaking skills to follow Tito instead of look at his house and I followed him on one of his trips across that bridge we built (good job thank you) at least I tried to but whoops! He was halfway scross the bridge as I was figuring out how to get on it with him without being noticed but suddenly there were these big black shapes (it was at nighttime) and a noise that made my stomach queasy and he was gone. TITO GOT ABDUCTED!! He showed up a few days later like nothing and I didn’t tell anyone else and I definitely didn’t say anything to him because I think he might have special powers I don’t know.
Aiden, out!
For the eyes of Ivy Waxwort,
I thank you for your input in the Conclave. Recent events have calrified what advice was and was not valuable. I suppose it is commendable that you have remained so active in your retirement. And there is utility in experience, despite the clear facts that times change, and an office should be executed by the mouse that inhabits it. Your lucky find of that abandoned axe was perhaps the greatest success of the mission. One shudders to consider what may have happened if those turncoats and saboteurs had pulled off their “Plan A”. Now it falls to me to achieve our goals in these times of distress.
I hope this finds you well.
Rosard, Guard Captain and Judge
To Isolde, my dear mentee
This is an apology. You are owed one from many mice. I can only give you mine. I apologize that in my search I regarded you with suspicion, rather than attempt understanding. I apologize for seeing the Spear as a puzzle to be solved and not a group of mice with motives and fears. If I had maintained the relationship we had when you were young we may not have found ourselves in this state.Over the past year I searched my menories of our time together for clues to a conspiracy. Now I find myself thinking of the same days in a different light. How many times were you need of a friend, only to have an instructor? We both have reputations in these halls for having cold dispositions, but the disappointment I have in myself is overwhelming. I you are just as capable of powerful feeling. I beg that you are also capable of forgiveness.
Yours,
Bronwyn[RETURN TO SENDER. NO SUCH MOUSE FOUND ON SEVENTH DELIVERY ATTEMPT]
Hello doll,
Stay safe out there! I know I should have said this when you were last home, but things were so nice, and there’s never enough time. This is hard. Probably not as hard as wildfires and whatever that civil war was about, which is why I don’t want to make it harder. I think we need to talk about what we want both out of this relationship.
And since I’m dumping this on you from afar I guess I’ll start. I really like you. And I like working in Lockhaven. I even like your kid, and I never liked kids before. But I don’t like waiting. And I don’t like stopping myself from other opportunities when I’m only assuming that I should just in case. I think we can make this work. I hope we do. I’ll always be in your debt, and you’ll always be in my heart.
Love,
Maren
Ahoy there Zeke!
Please don’t think I start my letters that way. It’s a branding thing. Anyway I know you haven’t been away from the (ugh) Silly Jolly Fun Barge for too long, but Waffle misses you. He just looks back at me and quacks whenever I feed him. He’s got this ‘Not you, I want the other one’ look all the time. So I tried to give him his brush without the nose and makeup but he could still tell it wasn’t you AND I got my pay docked for breaking character. There weren’t even any clients around to see! So if you ever wind up in the ports Waffles and I would appreciate it if you stopped by to say hello.honk honk And THAT’S a buccaneer-ful! (I’m going back to actual piracy this isn’t worth it)
-Leroy
Little Sprout,
It has been too long since we saw one another, though I am frightened of the ways it may happen again. I met some past acquaintances of yours in the Spring. One was surprised to hear she was your grandmother. I hope their souls are peaceful. Surely some souls must be, somewhere. I have no way to know how many of my letters even reach you, or how long it takes them, but such uncertainty would never shake you, so I must not be shaken either. Know that I think of you all the same. My brother thinks I suffer under divided loyalties. I cannot explain to him that loyalty to peace is not at the expense of any people. I suppose that is another thing we share in common.Your faraway friend
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Mouse Guard 75: Search Patrol Rides A Duck.
Guard captain Rosard has gone missing. With nothing to go on but the knowledge he should be in Woodstuff’s Grove right now, investigating what happened to the lost city, a search party is sent after him. Granny gathers up the best tracker in the guard, Zeke, for his wilderness skills, and the young Tander, for his connection to a duck he knows that can fly them over the the Grove real quick-like.
Ivy Waxwort is played by Gnome. Tander is played by Drakkel. Zeke is played by Devious Vacuum.
Our Games Mouse is Grant. Mouse Guard’s art is drawn by Cataegory. Mouse Guard’s music is performed by Thylacinus.
This episode was edited by Grant.
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Mouse Guard 76: Militia Patrol Settles Affairs
There is a militia gathering in Ferndale, a small town on the edge of the territories that has suddenly tripled in population in preparation for the weasel war. Gwendolyn needs a team to go check it out and settle the situation - but before Sable can leave, she needs to settle the situation that is her life.
Francisca is played by Riley. Lily is played by Eliza. Sable is played by Arden.
Our Games Mouse is Grant. Mouse Guard’s art is drawn by Cataegory. Mouse Guard’s music is performed by Thylacinus.
This episode was edited by Riley.
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Mouse Guard 77: Search Patrol Scours the Swamp
Woodstuff’s Grove is empty, with no sign of Rosard in sight. Instead of a large hammermouse, Search Patrol has found an old librarian armed with crossbows - Velvet, mother of Marx. With no other leads, they settle in to discuss what happened with her, and what we should all do next.
Mouse Guard 78: Militia Patrol Rains On The Parade
Sprucetuck is throwing a parade! But this joyous respite from the impending war is due to the hero worship of a fake hero, a fraud, and Francisca will not rest until this fraud is revealed. But Sable knows too much, and Lily knows too little, and not everyone wants the team to be on the same page…
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Mouse Guard 79: Search Patrol Unleashes the Bees
Granny, Zeke, and Tander have found a trace of Rosard, and begins to follow him through the woods. But along the way, a fox corners them, and the clever hunter has them on the backfoot. Only Granny’s last resort can save them now…
Mouse Guard 80: Militia Patrol Duels the Black Axe
The false black axe stands before them. Francisca rises to the challenge.
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Been a while. Nearly a year? Let’s catch up because the latest episode released this week, ending Fall 1149.
Mouse Guard 81 - Search Patrol Picks Up The Trail
The search for Rosard finally bears fruit with the worst outcome: Rosard has been captured by weasels.
Mouse Guard 82 - Militia Patrol Stumbles Into Town
With an absurdly large cargo in tow, Militia Patrol finds a town full of suspicion and stabbing.
Mouse Guard 83 - Search Patrol Strikes By Sea
Search Patrol mounts an offensive on the Seaside Palace where Rosard is held, with the aid of pirates.
Mouse Guard 84 - Militia Patrol Goes Beyond The Territories
The Militia has been found, and the team finds troubling evidence of Isolde’s involvement and worse, what she plans to do.
Mouse Guard 85 - Search Patrol Starts The Winter War
By blood, steel, and sacrifice Search Patrol has done the impossible in their raid, striking an early blow against the weasels, but at what cost?
Mouse Guard 86 - Militia Patrol Cuts To The Heart
Isolde is one of the most cunning mice in history, but Sable’s determination has brought herself, Lily, and Francisca to her hiding spot, face to face.
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Mouse Guard 87 - Weasel’s Meeting
Outside the territories, a few feet below the surface, in the Banquet Hall of Darkheather, Overlord Savash holds a feast. Every Tunnel Lord has come, from near and very very far, to hold council, and make plans for Savash’s war with the mice.
This is the beginning of the end! If we weren’t in the endgame before, we certainly are now. War is declared and armies are on the march. Welcome to the Winter War of 1149, where all our paths have led.
The final episodes are all unique enough I think it’s worth talking about them, so here’s a behind the scenes blog post covering the choice of concept, choice of system, and some other ideas that led to this episode.
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Mouse Guard Finale - The Winter War
It is a bitter winter, frigid and tragic, but the spring still comes. It always will.
Our story has always been the story of how the Winter War of 1149 came to be. This final episode is the war itself. We leave our campaign on what each of our Guardmice did that season, as well as many other creatures across the Territories.
(The campaign will conclude with an epilogue game in the coming weeks)
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Stories from the War:
By death and expulsion, the leadership of the Guard was not in an ideal position to wage a war. Bronwyn had never had the luxury of an ideal position before, so she was ready to step up as a tactician. The documents smuggled out by a Spear agent were invaluable. She never said so. It wasn’t worth the risk of being cast out like Stjepan, or the loss to morale if she wasn’t cast out for being a possible Spear sympathizer. But she had been following that group long before anyone else knew they existed. And she knew this would be their legacy: only useful by accident.
Governor Bluebell of Ivydale never regretted the deal she struck to feed Dorigift and Gilpledge as they rebuilt. Yes, it was the end of her political career. Nothing could change that. But the way she structured that reserve was the foundation for a later deal, one that fed craftsmice across many settlements and kept the defenders of the territories supplied. She learned to give up a place in the histories for the assurance they would one day be written.
Many brave mice marched west. Many others defended the places where they stood. Kearra the cartographer’s heart fluttered for each of them. She waited for one to sweep her up in their arms on the docks of Port Sumac. Maybe Ephraim still remembered her. Perhaps Marx dreamt of the night they spent together nearly two years before. Adventure was for other mice. Dreaming and pining were Kearra’s.
Everyone says “necessity is the mother of invention” but the uncomfortable truth is that war creates more necessities than anything else. Vidar had become administrator of an Elmoss lab meeting those needs. One new compound was named for him on a whim, and it worked wonderfully well. They say it saved lives. He doesn’t talk about it now in peacetime. Nobody wants to share a name with a weapon like that.
There was so much to fight for, but Tallulah and Levi had no fight left in them. They ran from Mayor Cavre when he began his final slide. They lived through Darkheather and the march across the wilderness. That’s enough for anybody, but even now little Rust wasn’t safe. But they couldn’t take up arms, not with Levi’s paw or Tallulah’s restless nights. No, they would fight a different battle in their new home in Thistledown. They helmed donation drives, scavenging missions, and a campaign for rationing. Historians credit the end of the famine not to the agrarian south, whose fields were trampled by armies, but the engaged and generous north.
Garrow had fixed things all his life, and always found it best to take it one step at a time, even if the land itself was breaking. He made a promise, of sorts, to that Waxwort witch that he intended to keep. When he left his home, a number of neighbors came with. And it turned out he had neighbors in Willowroot, Flintrust, Oakgrove, and Lilygrove too. Before they reached the east, his band had already survived some skirmishes, and collapsed some tunnels. They had started calling him “sergeant” as a joke, but it stuck by the time he reached the fields of Walnutpeck. He never left those fields. Many mice survived the retreat because he refused to take it.
Fulbert, Lord of Tunnel Bone sat waiting for dawn. He was to charge forward and draw out the defenders of Elmwood, exposing them to hidden troops from Tunnel Steel. It was a good plan, but he could not sleep all the same. That is why he saw his sister Isile coming from down a tree, checking a pouch to be sure its contents were safe. He hated confronting Isile. It always felt bad; even worse when he got his way. This argument was shorter than most, and Fulbert was sad to realize that didn’t save his feelings either. She had retrieved a message, hidden up high, from Lily of the Mouse Guard. They had been writing each other about everything except the war. He recognized a few of the names in the mouse’s gossip, and recognized his sister in her dreams. It hurt him most of all to burn the letter, but he would rather have a sister who lived to hate him than one who died because he failed to protect her.
Hannidy, the Facilitator of the Scent Barrier was no longer head of Elmoss’ second family, but the Lieutenant of its Third. Politics. It meant he was in no place to refuse the honor of leading Elmoss’ regiment at the front. Hannidy did always enjoy new medals, at least. He didn’t enjoy the ice. He didn’t enjoy the dirt. He didn’t enjoy the paranoia. He didn’t enjoy the ambush. His new medals adorn a grave, marked with several of his titles.
The war reminded Sylvia of her childhood, an unwelcome fact. Only now it was in slow motion. Not one day, but many. Not one place of tragedy, but many. She had a letter from Zeke saying the curse was dead. There was nothing to fear from the skies. But now, the ground beneath held terror. She left Wildseed as she had left many places before.
The Haven Guild was found unaware. It was too caught up in its mission to fulfill its purpose. Faolan of Wildseed had little affection for the Black Axe legend. Her membership was a career move. This gave her perspective. They had a network of mice, caches of goods, secret passages, all ready to put toward defending Mouse society. Let the search for the true Axe rest, she urged the guild. If he still walks, and this doesn’t bring him out, what good is he anyway? If the line is broken, then let us do the job for him.
Gayle sat in Lockhaven, far from the war. Not far at all on a map, but quite insulated. Yes, she was surrounded by mice waging it, and her cell had also become medical supply storage, but the war was still something “out there” to her. Bloodier gossip. She was quite happy with how things were going. Not exactly the way she would have gone about things, no, but every mouse was in agreement that the weasels must be met with force. Every battle mice spoke of in these halls was a victory to her ears.
The Smoketon Inn was never full until the war came, and Smoketon the innkeeper wasn’t there to attend to foreign soldier’s needs. He was on the front himself with them. Sure they were useful, but defending Pebblebrook was Pebblebrook’s own duty. Not like these mice had cared much what happened here in years passed. And he told them about it. Every free moment he shared another story he knew. Big things, little things, famous things, secret things. By the time the fighting had ended, every mouse remaining knew Pebblebrrok as well as Smoketon himself. One of them took his place in the Inn, in his absence.
Lucius and Jonwyn waited for all this fuss to end. They’d lived through tensions, and skirmishes, even a full war or two. And that’s only the weasel problems! It was the cold that got Lucius in the end, and Jonwyn kept living for them both, in the one decently built house between them.
When the war found Corben he was ready to meet it. It was a kind of comfort, knowing who the enemy was and what was meant to be done, at least compared to the open secrets and polite fictions of Pebblebrook. And a foreman is a leader of mice, or close enough to one, so his plans were always considered, if not acted on. But a foreman is not a warrior. Not a tactician. Those plans didn’t always bring clear victory. But they did bring him home, and on the right night, he’ll tell you about the few that worked.
All the nice helpful mice said Elric should evacuate for his safety. They found a way to hint at it whenever they spoke. But his forepaws were as fine as anyone else’s, and Corn Chip was here to make up for the rear ones. At least when he could keep focus, the silly beetle. Elric learned to fletch arrows by the bucketfull as defenders pinned the weasels to the far bank. One bucket more wouldn’t have made a difference in the end, there were too few archers to fire them.
The fall of Ferndale and the trouble at Walnutpeck; hell, the entire West, led a steady stream of mice to flee Darkheather and her advancing tunnels. Those who stopped in Shaleburrow found refuge with Poppy and Stout. They knew every available room and cot, who could be convinced to take just one more for just a little while, and at a last resort where to squeeze a new, warm burrow. Their son Hops worked with those traveling farther. More grain from their stores went into travelers’ packs than the brewing tanks. They believed their family always had room for a new member, just like Sable taught them.
Isile had been moving messages for weeks. It kept her useful, and it kept a sword out of her paws. Travel also kept her from Fulbert and his foolishness. If he loses a battle, he dies. But he won’t accept that if he wins he dies all the same. Did loyalty protect Lina? Perhaps he should ask Georges? Today’s message was yet more troop movements. Wenyld had finally rooted Olga and her Flintrust militia from their position and they were retreating East to Gilpledge. But Beatriz is heading to Gilpledge. Isile knows if this message goes through she’ll ambush them. At least half of those mice are injured. Fulbert wouldn’t consider this a worthy battle, but Beatriz might. That message never went through, but it did make for fine firestarter as Isile laid camp.
There was more need for a Nurse of the West than ever, and Ostrid only had two paws. She hoped the fading warriors had enough sense left in the end to guide their own souls above. The tunnels were too haunted already
Alton was told to watch the western horizon, which helped him ignore what the rest of The Spear did behind him. That became impossible once war broke out. He was supposed to be happy, right? This was the culmination of somebody’s plan. But when he watched Guardmice marshaling volunteers, they looked like hope for tomorrow, not converts to the cause or dupes to be discarded. And when he watched the battles fought, even the victories didn’t look like anything worth working towards. He’s still keeping his eyes open, and his mouth shut.
Mice may have used Ephraim, but he was always listening. When he lost his axe, Ephraim felt like he lost all the inspiration and power Clove was always talking about. But that was her plan. And as he made his way west he had a new plan. After all he was a wilderness scout, a tracker, and a hunter. His arm could lift the axe, but his paws were suited to other tools. Ephraim drinks free in any tavern still standing in the west, as they sing songs of the mouse who foiled a hundred surprise attacks.
The mice of Ferndale most ready to fight had gone off with the Flintrust militia and had not returned, so those left behind filled the gap. Sarah and Mel took shifts in the watchtowers. They learned to lash barriers, dress wounds, and wield spears. Perfumers and florists are usually considered the least warlike of the trades, but necessity called. When the final weasel attack came, Mel lit Ferndale’s bridges on fire, and Sarah survived to flee into the night.
Walnutpeck was abandoned in the early weeks of the war, but that changed with the coming of Spring. Whispers had gone through the tunnels and camps and settlements between trusted creatures, those who believed in a world without the cycle of war. Lily and Isile live together in the old observatory now, with a corner that is Stencil’s very own, looking after what they’ve built. With the exodus of the former weasels of Darkheather, and the new scent barrier poured well east of the settlement, their community is left to itself, unknown to those carrying the old fears. Weasel, Mouse, and other creatures beside, call all their previous traditions into question, in order to build a new society that works for them all as a unit, a new people. Today is Sable’s annual-ish visit, a privilege in exchange for helping arrange the whole thing, as Flip drops her upon her daughter’s porch. She gives Isile a basket of lemon cakes. Lily isn’t home right now, she is down on the ground in her old cloak, using the legend of Thistle, The Mouse Unstuck from Time to scare away those who would spoil their haven’s secret.
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I’m so very happy that this campaign is getting a full ending. While I do miss the interplay of the squads and hope that more of that is to come during the epilogues, this war episode was tense and tragic without too much gore or horror. It made me want to cheer for the heroes while realizing how sad it was that this was happening at all. A wonderful finale for an often heroic and melancholy story.
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The Epilogue
If you want interplay and goofs, we’ve got your back. In the summer after the War, Zeke and Christophe affirm their commitment in front of family and friends. But first come the stress, bar fights, uncooperative frogs, and traveling clowns that every wedding planner must deal with.
This session was played in a homebrew adaptation of Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern by Takuma Okada, with inspiration for the Venue Search minigame from Millennial Apartment Hunters by James D’Amato.
After listening, feel free to read my behind the scenes posts about the Finale and this Epilogue to learn about why they took the forms they did, what other possibilities were on the table, and how they came together once those decisions were made.