Binky and the Hyena Trail (Part 1)
THE SLAVE MARKET - Umpire
At the Lodge
Helen Damnayshin
Although usually unarmed she is a passable shot and has been
on several hunts with mixed success.
She can call upon d6 native musketeers and d6+2 spear armed warriors.
These are armed mainly with muskets.
It will take her 2 d6+3 turn to rouse them though she can call
immediately on the foreman and 3 rifle armed servants from the hunting lodge.
The villagers have herds of cattle that they will not leave
untended. There are two boys with
each herd.
Helen:
Vet; Mo 5, W 3,4, Cr 5, D6, Sw 3; Me -1 Healer
Pistol: 4 4+, 8 5+ Str-3;
Lodge Foreman:
Vet, Mo 6, W 3,4 Cr5, D6 Me +1 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 5+, 16 6+, 24 7+, 32 8+ Str -1
Lodge Servant:
Av, Mo 6, W 3,4 Cr5, D6 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Lodge Servant:
Av, Mo 6, W 3,4 Cr5, D6 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Lodge Servant:
Av, Mo 6, W 3,4 Cr5, D6 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Typical
Tribal Musketeer:
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr 4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Musket 6 6+, 12 7+, 18 8+, 24 9+ Str -2
Tribal Spearman:
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr 4, D5 Me 0 Spear IRB +1, Str 0; knife -2 Str-3
Throwing spear 4 6+, 8 7+, Str -3;
Shield parry 7+
A secret slave market is revealed by a Christian native a
convert from the congregation of Dinger Bell (father of Clarissa) as being
held in a clearing not far away.
Actually it is on the far side of the river natives here are never exact in
case evil spirits overhear and wait for them.
It will start at Moonrise about 10pm when there are expected to be
about 200 slaves and maybe 4 or 5 bidders.
Will the party attack or attempt to buy?
The male slaves will be about 4 for a Maria Theresa and the young females
about 8. If there are any
eunuchs then they will be about 10 Maria Theresas.
By the time the adventurers get there, guided by the native
most of the bidding is done except for the prize exhibits.
Two white females. Only the
Arab and the Portuguese bidders are present as they are the only ones with the
silver and gold in enough quantity to buy.
The price for the first has already reached 3 Maria Theresas a high
price and she is not the golden haired one!
She will fetch 4 or 5 golden Mohurs!
The slaver, under the black, white and green flag of Mustapha
Ginnis, is none other than Maqa Buqattu from Zohme el Ohle.
The buyers are an Arab under the red banner of Marzibar, Sheikh Gizan
Udah Wann, and the Portuguese is a well known trader Loadzi Bravadho.
Each has a small force of escorts and a string of recently purchased
slaves. The two females we have met
before Binky (& Gerald)
immediately recognises his former paramour the golden haired
Cynthia Wannamaker and the others recognise Lucille Astique.
Maqa Buqattu
Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Scimitar 0 Str+1
pistol 4 5+, 8 6+ Str-1;
Falog Emhard
Slave foreman; Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Whip -2 Str-4
pistol 4 6+, 8 7+ Str-1
Ghimmi Daqash
Treasurer; Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 scimitar -1 Str0
pistol 4 6+, 8 7+ Str-1
Blaqan Blu
guard Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Wizi Dehr
guard Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Diya Siyit
guard Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Suqit Ansi
guard Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -1
Sheikh Gizan Udah Wann;
Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Scimitar 0 Str+1
pistol 4 5+, 8 6+ Str-1
Qtan Haq Slave foreman;
Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Whip -2 Str-4
pistol 4 6+, 8 7+ Str-2
Bitim Ard Guard;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -2
Darqar Guard;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -2
Izitim Guard;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -2
Waziihn Guard;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -2
Loadzi Bravadho
Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Scimitar 0 Str+1
pistol 4 5+, 8 6+ Str-1
Haqim Inbitz Slave foreman;
Vet, Mo6, W 3,4 Cr 5 D 6; Me +2; Scimitar 0 Str+1;
Whip -2 Str-4; pistol 4 6+, 8 7+ Str-1
Bruze El Bo NCO
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Rifle 8 6+, 16 7+, 24 8+, 32 9+ Str -2
Warzi Gohn Askari;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr 4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Musket 6 6+, 12 7+, 18 8+, 24 9+ Str -2
Fawzi Hayer Askari;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr 4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Musket 6 6+, 12 7+, 18 8+, 24 9+ Str -2
Yalu Teef Askari;
Av, Mo 6, W 2,3 Cr 4, D5 Me 0 knife -2 Str-3
Musket 6 6+, 12 7+, 18 8+, 24 9+ Str -2
NEW
The Hungry Night
The people of Morvalistan are very much in touch with the
spirit world and magic. Not the
secret magic of Europe but an open and common magic.
Death is quite normal and so long as the natural order is maintained and
the living made sure that the sprits of the dead and hunted were placated life
would flourish. But when the
natural order was upset by incomers, by strange unnatural devices and foreign
beliefs then it was that a new kind of spirit came from the carcass of a fresh
kill or a recently deceased ancestor.
These spirits came out of the darkness.
Howling and shrieking at their frustration of being in a
bodiless state they took over the bodies of the living wherever they could find
them alone or in small groups.
Normally peaceful animals might suddenly become man-eaters, people were seized
by madness, souls were possessed by evil and most horrible of all the bodies of
the recently dead would rise again.
At first the witch doctors and shamans believed that these
insane spirits had been torn from their original bodies in some particularly
horrible or painful way that left them in perpetual agony that they sought to
alleviate by inflicting suffering and pain on the living.
Those who were possessed would indulge to excess in all the pleasures of
the flesh, would kill indiscriminately, take delight in torture and enslave
their fellow creatures.
The shamans and witch doctors created great spells and wards
to protect their tribes and families.
But there are too many evil spirits and too few shamans.
Great heroes stood in the path of the spirits and many passed into
legend. They gained the time for
the shamans to cast their spells and work their magic.
These powerful magicians achieved a stalemate many centuries ago with the
shamans controlling the day where their spells held sway and defeated all but
the most determined assaults by the spirits.
But night is an altogether different prospect.
It is in the dark that the spirits roam wide and far attacking the
unwary. Day is the time of Man and
night belongs to the spirits.
The spirits are immortal, intangible, invisible and possessed
of powers beyond imagining. If you
cannot see them, touch them or even comprehend them how can you fight them?
Is it any surprise that the natives carry fetishes against the
spirits?
The most common fetishes are:
Danger Ward allows the wearer to avoid a spirit ambush.
Spirit Ward a figurine or amulet that protects the home or
wearer from spiritual possession.
Occasionally, an ancestral spirit will choose to aid its
offspring and become a guide or protector.
This can be enhanced by propitiating the spirit with a suitable sacrifice
and/or the wearing of a suitable amulet.
The people who use magic are the witchdoctors.
They perform many roles in tribal life as well as in the spiritual
battle. Witchdoctors who have
fallen under control of evil are known as witches (abaTagati)
and cannot be distinguished from a true witchdoctor except by witch smelling.
Witchdoctors have some common roles to play in the constant
war between man and spirit including:
Common |
Less Common |
Constructing Fetishes Propitiating Spirits Obtain Spirit Guide Withering Glare Declare Taboo Warding |
Exorcism Witchsmelling Summon Spirit Bind Spirit |
Natives at Night
All tribal figures suffer a morale and decision making penalty
at night if they are outside their homes or villages where the wards are strong
enough to repel all but the most determined attacks.
These penalties are strongest before moonrise and after moonset.
Wearing a fetish or amulet can help but night is still a terrifying
place.
When a native is called upon to venture out into the night a
morale test is required at -2 (with protection -1).
However, the presence of a witchdoctor means that the morale test is
taken without penalty.
The River
The Grisiwatta River is slow moving and shallow here.
The large stones mark the drift where the cattle (and slave) route
crosses the river. The move
deduction here is 1 per 2 travelled whilst elsewhere the penalty is 1 per 1
travelled. There are, of course,
crocodiles and hippos. Though the
crocodiles are sluggish at night and the hippos are feeding on dry land.
Most other animals are near the water and lions can be heard roaring in
the distance and sometimes not so far away.