Plague

Between this session and last session clock was advanced two months; it´s now middle summer. Gwendolyn sent peacemakers to Barkstone to keep the relations alive. They failed. Alba Rynbeldel, daughter of the patriarch, and head of the family now that both his father and his brother are under Mouse Guard custody, used her fathers disappearance, her family relationships and the actions of Gill´s patrol to win the Barkstone Mayor election. Now Barkstone is closed to the Guard, rumors about insanity in house Rynbeldel are growing strong, and the mood in territories is strained.

A new member, Thom, son of a politician and a capenter from Elmoss, joined the patrol. His training was given to Radulg. Patrol did it´s job, transporting mail and escorting mice, but the territories had grown silent; the mutiny of Barkstone and the winter war were in recent memory, and nobody wanted more. But relationship between the Guard and Barkstone had once more grown bad, and laughter and smiles had grown scarge. At this time rumors from fishing town of Dawnrock arrived to Lockhaven: there was sickness in Dawnrock. Gwendolyn was afraid that it might be plague, and summoned Gill and Cail with their patrols. She gave them a mission: to go to Dawnrock, find out if it was plague, and if it was, stop it from spreading by any means neccessary. One patrol did not have enough mice to quarantine the town with the local town watch, and Gill´s patrol didn´t have a decent healer, so Cail´s patrol was sent with them. With cail was Cole, old friend of Gunrey and a good healer.

The summer gave it´s best for the journey; the sun and the wind were oblivious to the worry in the territories, and were not afraid to show themselves to the world. Day by day, the wind smell more and more of ocean; and especially Beagan loced the scent. A day before Chistledown the patrol arrived at a stream; there had obviously been rains further north, and the stream was overflowing so that wading was impossible. The patrol decided , with Beagan and Thom in the lead, to build rafts and cross the river. Working together, the rafts were ready in no time, and with Gill´s patrol on the lead the mice started their trip over the stream. Halfway there a hidden undercurrent caught the leading raft - it was too strong to break free from, and attempts to do so only made the raft to spin. The raft behind them, now knowing the danger, succesfullly evaded it, but Gill´s patrol was taken far from their path.

Partio matkalla pitkin joenrantaa

At last the current weakened enough for the patrol to get ashore, but now they had to find their way back to the safe trail. With Gill in lead, they followed the stream upwards, going around rocks and thorny bushes, and managed to get back on trail without problems, where the other patrol was waiting for them, making tea. Gunrey and Cole sat around the fire and told jokes about their respective patrol leaders, and others had to tell them to get moving.

The next night Cole sits next to Gunrey at the campfire and tell him, with quiet voice, his concern; his beloved, daughter of a seamstress, lives in Dawnrock, an Cole was worried about her health. Others did not hear the conversation.

When patrol arrived at crossroads, roads ahead leading to Whitepine and Dawnrock, they saw a girl in dirty clothes coming from the direction of Whitepine. Patrol stopped the girl, and she told her story: she was 17, and her name was Lenore. She was in love to a smith´s son in Chistledown, but her parents did not approve, as they were a rich and influential family, local elite. A week ago her brother died in a accident, and her parents were stricken with sorrow. Now that she no longer had her brother, and her parents did not give her the little attention they used to, she thought she had nothing left in Whitepine and started the long walk to her belowed. The journey, however, was not easy for a solitary mouse, and she was tired, hungry, dirty and wounded on her leg.

Cole treated the girls wound and made sure she was healthy. Thetreatment did not take well, and the Lenore was unable to travel for the night, and would have a scare. Beagan was strongly of the opinion that she could not be left alone, and Gunrey was already ready to take her to Chistledown, because Whitepine was too far. Cail objected to sending escorts, as they needed all the mice they got if there really was plague in Dawnrock. Gill decided, after discussion, to send two mice from Cail´s patrol to take Lenore to safety and them come after them.

At night, when Radulf and Thom were at guard, Lenore, who could not sleep, came weeping to talk to the pair. They listened, gave what comfort they could, and Thom hugged her and patted her on the back. After a while, Lenore calms down, goes back to her bed and at last falls asleep.

At morning Lenore wants to give his necklace, made of gold and of good make, to Radulf as thanks from help and comfort (she was raised to noble manners, and even if Thoms hug helped her more, the thanks from work of an apprentice belongs to the master). Radulf accepts the necklace, and the Patrol watches Lenore leave with her escorts behind a hill. Afterwards, Cail comes to Radulf and tells that he disapproves: the guard should accept no payment, for they work to help, not to get rich. Radulf answers by telling him that he will not sell the necklace, but rather keep it as a keepsake. Cail is not happy, but leaves the matter be.

At last the patrol gets to it´s destination: a wonderfull sight opens up from behind a hill. Endless sea sparkling in the sunlight, and the city of Dawnrock embraced by the ocean wind. When the patrols enter the city (the worriless city doesn´t have walls), the local mayor comes to them disturbed:
Thank the maker you are here, we were about to send a runner to get help. Come with me, this is not something to be discussed on open streets!

Hiiren elämässä kuolema ei koskaan ole kaukana

The mayor tells that two weeks ago a sickness had stricken the city; first one, then a few, and now all the ones first to get sick were dead. Slowly it dawned that the sickness had to be plague; mayor and city healer insisted on the craftsmice´s block, where the plague was contained, to be quarantined before the sickness spread. The mice would not stay in their homes forever simply by the mayor asking; they did not have infinite supplies in the homes. Cole opposed; he said, that he was not even sure if it was plague. To quarantine the block too soon would only panic the citinzenry for nothing, and there would likely be riots on the streets. Gill decides to heed Coles advice, and went with Cole, Thom and few others to check the sick. Hour by hour, the expression on Cole´s face grew more and more dire, but he still insisted on being unsure of the disease; he would have to consult his books and make sure. The mice went to sleep, while Cole stayed up, reading.

Two things of note happened during the night: Gill went for a walk on the craftsmice´s block, and overheard mice growing restless and mourning their dead. Elsewhere, Gunrey woke up and noticed that Cole was not reading nor sleeping. He went out, and witnessed two figures hugging each other before separating and going their separate ways. One came towards Gunrey, and it came closer, was reavealed to be Cole.
Gunrey: Did you make it?
Cole: I only hope i was in time...

At morning Cole tells the patrols, that it indeed is Plague, and the block had to be quarantined. But only for four days; the plagues was curable, but manufacturing the medicine would take 4 days. The patrol plans the best places for roadblocks and think of the best way to keep citizens calm. The spost for roadblocks were found with no problems, and calming the citizens was tasked to Thom, who had learned public speaking from his parents. So all the craftsmice are summoned (and asked to keep a little distance from each other, to keep the plague from spreading), and Thom on a herring barrel to give his speech. He speaks of hope, of order, and convinces the mice, that even with the  sickness, the guard can save them, if they only let them. And the mice believe him, completely taken by Thom´s narrative.

Three days the quarantine worked, but situation inside the quarantine was getting more and more dire. Everyone had to watch their friends die, everybody had to fear for their life. At the evening of the third day the situation escalated out of control: five mice came to demand exit from the patrol, who was at guard duty at the moment. At first Thom tried to reason with them; but they would not listen. Then Gill took his staff, held it horizontally and stood on the way of the mice - "One more step, and everyone of you will die".

Ei ole helppoa ampua niitä,
joita halusi suojella

The mice tried to force their way through the blockade, and the patrol had to choose between using their weapons and tanking creater risk of infection and failure (there would not be enough medicine for the whole town). Following Gill´s example, they draw their weapons, but with heavy hearts: many strikes were pulled back at the last moment, because the patrol hated the idea of hurting and killing innocent mice - their only fault was in being afraid for their lives. The fight was not easy, and though the mice were stopped, when the dust settled, one mouse was dead, three of the patrol were infected (not knowing of it, yet) and they all hated themselves for what they had to do.

At the dawn of the fourth day the medicine was ready, and the sick could be treated. Whole patrol survived their sickness, with the help of the medicine, but Gill´s facial nerves were damaged by the plague. He could not control his expressions as well as before, making him a worse liar. Of 200 mice in the town, 50 were dead. The quarantine saved most of the citizen, but it was not perfect: Cole, even knowing that it was plague, delayed the quarantine to smuggle his beloved out of the zone. She was sick, however, and even though she survived, two of her cousins died of the plague.

Before heading back to Lockhaven, the patrol drowned their sorrow on spirits, and Gunrey and Radulf took it out on each other, wrestling on a muddy alley. When they left the town, joy had not returned to the territories, even though the catastrophe was averted. Gill had to live with his choices, his hands now red with innocent blood. Thom´s first mission surely tested his innocence. And Gunrey, just learning to trust his patrolmates, now has to ponder meaning of friendship: he trusted his friend, not revealing his secret, and for that, the plague nearly broke quarantine, and two mice lay dead. Cole is depressed of his actions. And house Rynbeldels is still scheming.

New game cubed!

Aaron

I have been interested in RPGs from childhood, but never got to play in one. Well, we did have one session of rolemaster and one session of paranoia, but they never really got off the ground. And to this day i have no idea how on earth a ten year old can make sense of Rolemaster 2nd edition? That all changed last year.

I moved to a new city, and dediced to check if some of my new friends could be persuaded to try roleplaying. To my suprise, I had no problem finding players, once I explained what on earth roleplaying was. There was even a history of roleplaying around here - while cleaning a room in our church that had not been used for a decade (besides storage), i found old runequest-books. I don´t know who played, but it was fun find.

We started  with a group of 4+1, which has since grown to 5+1 (3 of whom are girls), and not one of us has roleplayed before. The system was (obviously) new to all of us, Mouse Guard, and the campaign was brand new. That´s new cubed!

I have been enjoying myself immensely, and we have crafted some impressive stories together. The only tip i feel qualified to give is this: spread the word. You will be suprised how many people are interested in our hobby! But without further babbling, i give the stage to two of my players!

-Aaron
 Gamemaster

Leea

Who are you?
I´m a short, 23 years old (I feel so old...!) image-artesan, but currently studying to be socionom. Well, trying to. I´m a christian, a bookworm, and I like to go jogging, play piano and flute, and sing.

How did you feel about starting roleplaying?
Enthusiastic! It has been my dream for many years, and now i have gotten to play for a few times. I´m eagerly waiting for the next time!

Could you introduce your character?
Gil is 30 years old, male (they thought he was she at one time...), has a rank of Patrol Leader, and is tutoring a Tenderpaw from his patrol. Gil has a black fur, and has a black cape, staff and dagger, and likes to cover half of his face with a scarf. He lost his right ear saving his patrol from a hawk. He likes rum... a lot!

You best memory from the campaign?
At the moment, there are two. Twice, when my pupil has been misbehaving, i have knocked him out without any effort. In real fight, he is a machine, much better than me, but when misbehaving, the scene is almost like straight from a movie: the pupil struck down unceremoniously by his mentor! Another one was kidnapping a mayor candidate during election, hiding him inside a carpet, and smuggling him out of the city posing as laundrymen.

Rauli

Who are you?
23 years old wannabe-student and sportsman. Music is also close to my hearth. Interested on everything and usually, while not working, on the move.

How did you feel about starting roleplaying?
The idea to me was to try something new, and maybe use my imagination a little more. And it has been fun!

Could you introduce your character?
Radulf likes to watch and survey his environment, but when needed, he can be strong and fierce fighter. Life has forced him to learn a wide skillset, so he often scouts ahead, even hoping to find something to get his adrenaline rush. Socially he can be a little dumb, and often tries to compensate with his knowledge. Wants to do the right thing, but the skills others have often learned in the childhood are absent and replaced with others, so many think of him as a lone wolf, even if he wanted to be a friend.

You best memory from the campaign?
Not a singular memory, but the image of people sitting in a circle in a room, and still being in somewhere completely different. That´s something  you can rarely experience.


Thus post was written for the second annual New Year, New Game blog carnival hosted by Gnome Stew as part of the 2013 New Year, New Game challenge.

Agressive politics

After hurrying towards Copperwood the patrol intercepted Gwendolyn´s caravan before they arrived to Copperwood. Gwendolyn told them, that a great many warehouses belonging to different families from Barkstone, and that bodies in clothing of Copperwood prison were found at scene, in addition to a body fo Copperstone Guard with letters of pardon for the prisoners. Copperwood had taken the trade war way too far; using prisoners as soldiers and bringing violence to the streets of Lockhaven would not be allowed and would be dealt with! But the revelations from the patrol and interrogating the prisoner (the young Rynbeldel) changed the situation completely: After thinking, Gwendolyn asked the patrol to join them in the office of Aengus Tascer, mayor of Copperwood, the next day.

The meeting came to following conclusion: family Rynbeldel had burned it´s own warehouses in Copperwood and Lockhaven, orchestrated riots to hinder Copperwood, started a prison escape, killed prisoners and smuggled them out of Copperwood, and stolen letters of pardon to frame Copperwood as cultprit and get Copperwood banned from trading in Lockhaven, to keep their wares out of the market. Gwendolyn ordered the patrol to return to Barkstone, arrest patriarch Rynbeldel and bring him to Lockhaven to stand trial for crimes against the territories and inciting war.

Enroute, the patrol found a path made untravelable by wood debris. Beagan found out, that the path had been fouled by a bear, who had clawed the tree and now the whole area was full of branches and debris. Patrol managed, however, to move the debris away, and by so doing made traveling between the towns safe again.

Patriarkka Rynbeldel

After returning to Barkstone (and concealing their identities, not to be arrested for their last visit) the patrol found out, that the last mayor was murdered during a speech, and new election was coming. The candidates were all the leading merchants, but most of them were in debt to family Rynbeldel. The city guard, while sympathetic, would not allow to arrest mayor or any of the canditates until one of them was elected. Rynbeldel was, however, a major threat to stability in the territories; ready to kill and burn for small profits and power. A lunatic like that could not be made mayor - he had to face trial! Gill decided that the best way to do so was to break into the mansion of patriarch Rynbeldel and kidnap him...


The patrol divides to find something to blackmail the patriarch with, but finds nothing. Next they steal some uniforms of the city Guard, and forged papers with the captain of the guard allowing arrest of the patriarch. Gill and Gunrey, dressed as city guard, go to relieve the guards in front of the mansion and so gain entry, Radulf goes behind the mansion to watch the last guard, and Beagan goes to prepare (another) escape form the city. Gill and Gunrey try to get the patriarch to come with them with blackmailing and threaths, but the patriarch escapes to an secret passageway and a chase follows. The mice ran in amazingly long secret passageways (they must take up a substantial portion of the mansion.... Rynbeldel must be crazy!) and at last knock the patriarch out, tie him and roll him inside a carpet. The last guard hears noise, but radulf knocks him out and the three mice carry their carpet out of the mansion.

Gill

At the gate the city guard was pretty perplexed at the need to transport a single carpet in the middle of a night, and wanted to check the carpet for stolen items (or mayor canditates, i guess). Gill throws the carpet (and the mayour-to-be) at the guard, Beagan runs to help and the Patrol manages to escape without any casualties on either side. The patrol escaped with their hare-pulled cart to Lockhaven, wjere Gwendolyn is thankfull for getting the Patriarch to face justice, but angry at the way the patrol handled the situation: it was the second kidnapping from Barkstone, second escape from the town, and how knows how many fights they started in there? The reations with Barkstone were strained already, and more problems were not needed!

With the immendiate crisis solved, the patrol at last had time to rest and relax, and they used their time with, among other things, playing hide-and-seek. Oh, and for the whole ordeal, from Copperwood to Barkstone and back to Lochaven, Gill had a barrel or rum with him. What kind of adventures await the patrol? What is happening to Gill, why is he drinking and why is he suddenly changed to violent daredevil?

Escape from Barkstone

After watching the son of Rynbeldel family vanish to the horizon in his carriage, the patrol gathered their stuff and still-unconscious Gunrey and went after them; this puzzle could only be solved in Barkstone. The journey to Elmoss went without a hitch, and after stopping at local tavern for refreshments, the hear a rumor about the merchants in Barkstone being in debt to one family.

The journey from Elmoss to Barkstone didnt go at all as well as the mice had hoped; their weather forecast was way off, and on the morning of the second day they found themselves in a hailstorm! With hail the size of mouse head falling from the skies they tried to find shelter from the deadly rain, and got under roots of a tree; but after the storm had passed they noticed they had no idea where they were: they were lost! After half a day of searching they found back to the road, but their walk through unsheltered paths drew a hungry hawk on them!

The patrol tried it´s best, but the hawk was too dangerous: at last both Beagan and Radulf lie down wounded, And Gill and Gunrey were not exactly on their best shape either! "RUN!", shouted Gill to Gunrey and turned to face the hawk, and something in Gill, in his voice or his face, made Gunrey to run. Gill stood there, with his staff on the ready, the hawk diving towards him, and at the last moment, just before he was clawed to little pieces, he jumped up. The hawk did not want to loose its dinner, so it tried to get Gill with its beak, but that was exactly what Gill was expceting: when the Beak opened up, he jammed his staff into the Beak, preventing the hawk from closing it´s beak! "You will NOT stop my patrol from reaching Barkstone alive!", he growled, holding for his life to the staff while flew around trashing its head around, until the staff gave away. Even hanging outside the beak, Gill could not completely avoid the beak closing with the speed of lightning, and the hawk took one of his ears with it! Lying on the ground, after the pain had subsided, he knew his gamble had paid off: the hawk, it's mouth full of splinters, had gone after easier dinner.

Gentleman´s Club

After tying their wounds the patrol got to the gates of Barkstone. The guards did not want to let the patrol in, it already having a bad reputation after the argument with one of the Rynbeldels, and four wounded, dirty mice are not good at looking trustworthy. At last it was their wounds that saved them, as the patrol got in by appealing to their wounded state, and they went to Radulf´s parents to lick their wounds.

After recovering for a day or two, Gill decided to take Radulf along to find out where the young Rynbeldel they met was, and left Beagan and Gill to recover from their wounds. After a while they got his work adress, and went on to shadow him. The merchant went to a gentlemans´s club, members only. Gill and Radulf tried to talk themselves in, but could not convince the  doorman. Then Beagan and Gunrey, who had followed after a while, arranged a tavern fight just across the street, allowing Gill and Radulf to sneak in.

Inside they saw the young Rynbeldel discussing with some mice who musta have been influential potters, heads of potters factories or the like: he tried to convince them to fill up their warehouses to the brim, for soon the competition would be out.
"Why should Copperwood suddenly just stop! They have been a sting in our flesh for a long time!"
"Soon, nobody will buy copperware from Copperwood, for Lockhaven will march to Copperwood!"
After that, the merchant took a look behind him, and recognized the guardmice. He knew hed had said too much, drew his dagger and yell to his guards "Catch them!". The customers retreated outside or to the sides of the room, and the potters escaped.

Terrified merchant attacked the pait, but the guards were quite a lot slower, with the fight starting without warning and all. At first the mice circled each other, testing and probing, until Radulf showed his skill with a sword: alone he disarmed and wounded so many opponents, a controlled whirlwind of steel,  that they won the fight. At that point, however, they heard noise from outside: the city guard was coming! Radulf had an idea: he took Gill's cape, dressed the terrified merchant in it, and with a knife on his throat led him out to Beagan and Gunrey. Gill stayed behind to pose a drunk, to slow down the guard (If the whole town was indeed in debt to Rynbeldels, could the guard be trusted?). The guards came, and listened to confusing stories; some told of bandits, others of Mouse Guard. Some told the culprits had escaped, others pointed at (now capeless) Gull. The guard were not sure if Gill was involved, but they thought that the mouse guard, or someone posing as them, were behind it all, and arrested Gill.

Two of the guardmice started to walk Gill away, and Gunrey and Beagan followed. At a secluded alley they tried to knock out the guard - Beagan succeeds with flying colors, but Gunrey misses his punch and the the guard starts to draw his sword. Gill uses the opportuinity, and snapping out of his pretended drunkness, kneekicks the guard to stomach with full force. After knocking the guards out, they went fast to Radulf´s parent´s house, where they got without a problem. Radulf was there already, with the Merchant, waiting for them.

There they interrogated the merchant, who didn´t know much, but did tell everything he knew: the events in Copperwood were his familys doing, that they in effect ruled Barkstone with all the important mice indebted to them, and that the events in Copperwood and the mice behind it would somehow incite war between Lockhaven and Copperwood. The Guard knew, that it had to be stopped, and escaped the town (who was looking for them.. They did start 2 fights and kindapped the Rynbeldel) in the caravan of Radul´s old friend. They did discuss explosions and fires as diversion, but decided they already have a bad enough reputation.

The mice of Lockhaven

The patrol hurries towards Copperwood, and manages to catch the party from Lockhaven before they arrive to Copperwood. It's not an army, thankfully, but every available Guardsmice was there: about 40 mice were there. Most suprising of all, Gwendolyn was there!

Next chapter will revel, what kind of conspiracy is behind this all, and why is the Guard marching to Copperwood. Until next time!

Mice in black

After the patrol had recovered from it´s ordeals the started their journey towards Copperwood with Radulf in lead. When they arrived, they went to Gunrey's parents to rest and recuperate. All other wounds healed just fine, but Gill´s got infected, and didn´t start to heal.

Beagan went to check the streets for rumors, hoping to shed some light to the puzzle of grain peddler from Barkstone having a detailed map of Lockhaven. The hottest topic of the town was the worsening relationship between Copperwood and Barkstone: for years, Barkstone had produced the majority of quality earthware used in the territories, and it´s fine and durable porcelain was greatly appreciated. Lately, the coppersmiths in Copperwood had started to produce greatn quantities of copperware to compete on the same market, and the coppersmiths and potters were up to each others throats.

Gunrey started to ask his father, a local coppersmith, if he knew something about the argument between the towns. Father and son had grown quite distant, however, due to the delinquent past of Gunrey, and the long journey between them, and the discussion evolved into shouting argument. He did find something out: one morning, completely without warning, hired caprenters had demolished a part of the guildhouse and startet rebuilding it. Radulf, as a carpenter's son, went to ask a few questions, and found out the cause of sudden redecoration: at night there had been a fire, and they tried to cover it up as quickly and silently as possible. There was a rumor going on with the carpenters, that some mysterious mouse had been sneaking around just before the fire.

The patrol had already decided to journey to barkstone to continue their invstigation there, but during their last night, they woke up to clang of alarm bells and terrible ruckus. They ran out of the motel thy were staying in, they climbed to the roof to get a better look. They saw two fires to the north, near the marketplace, one fier to the south, near the barracks and the coppersmith guildhouse, and heard sounds of battle from east, near the local prison. Gill and Gunrey went to north, Beagan to south and Radulf to east.

When Gill an dGunrey arrived to the scene at north, Gunrey helped to put the fires out, while Gill tried to find out what on earth was happening. Young and strong as he was, Gunrey did a great deal to put out the fires, and the townsfolk were impressed, getting the patrol good reputation. Gill kept his ears open, and heard a lot of rumors about the events in town: that a fire arrow had light the fires, that mysterious mice had lit the fires, and that a lightning bolt had lit up the fires. Were are these mice in black coming from?

Vankilan portit

Radulf, meanwhile, found himself in the middle of a full blown riot: the prisoners were escaping, civilians were running away terrified and the few town guardmice were trying to control the riot. He not only managed to emerge without a scratch, he practically held a street on his own. By standing there, on the middle off the street, with his eapon drawn and the cape of the guard flapping in the wind, he inspired the guard and terrified the rioters. He got a reputation of heroism with the town guard.

Beagan also tried to find out what was happening, but a crowd, ranning panicking from west, near the city hall caused the area to also panic and escape, and there was nobody to ask questions from. After the dust had settled the patrol, tired and dirty, went to local tavern for a breakfast and listen to rumors, and they did hear a lot of things: that the cash in city hall had been stolen, that Barkstone with the cursed potters were resposible, and that some prisoners were missing. After getting their bellies full, the patrol decided to go to the city hall to sort out the rumors and find out why there was a panic near the city hall.

Near the city hall the patrol found out that the crowd had indeed come from the city hall, not the marketplace. At the city hall they managed the adminstrators to tell that during the night, some mysterious mice were found in the archives, and the fight that evolved had got the crowd, out of their houses due to the noise from fires, to panic. Two guards were wounded, but the culprits escaped. The patrol talked its way to the arhives, and Gunrey, helped by the rest and his mom, who works there as an archivist, found out that the letters of pardon had been stolen.

Visit to the prison proved unhelpfull: while Radulf´s reputation got the guards talking, none of the prisoners were in any way importanta; just normal thiefs, conmen and a murderer or two. However, some of the prisoners were missing, and escape over manned walls was deemed impropable. The patrol decided to do a little scouting for hiding spots, thinking that the prisoners might be lying low, but found something strange instead: a deserted inner yard with bloody dragging marks leading in, with big puddles of water and small piles of fallen grain on the fround, and over the dragging marks, a trail of cart was leading out.

When there was nothing more to be found out in the city, the patrol decided to camp outside the city gates, on the barkstone side, to check for strange traffick. The traffick was cut off after the gates were shut, but in the middle of the night a fine carriage was traveling on the read. Gunrey, on watch at the time, drew his sword and stopped the train, waking rest of the patrol with the noise. Because he was supposed to wake the patrol, not run towards trouble by himself, Gill unseremoniously knocked him out with his staff (again). The patrol managed to lie that Gunrey was a bandit (as a tenderpaw, he didn't have a cape of the guard), and after a long and arduous argument, got some information out from the rich merchant (he was from Barkstone). The merchant was a son of the Rynbeldel-family, extremenly rich and influental one in Barkstone, and his mission was use provide an excuse for armsmen of his family to enter town and do something to the coppesmiths. With no evidence, the patrol couldn't detain the merchant with good conscience, and let him go.

How are a spy from barkstone, mice in black, missing prisoners and a strange merchant connected? Where did the cart from the inner yard go, and what are the letters of pardon for? Is lockhaven in some danger?

Snakes and knockouts

Route of the grain peddler

After a long winter, spring has finally arrived to Lockhaven, and the patrols of the Mouse Guard depart all over the territories to their missions. Gill's patrol has got a new member this spring, the tenderpaw Gunrey, while guardmouse Beagan and patrol guard Radulf continue in the patrol.

Gwendolyn gave them a mission to find a grain peddler, who was traveling from Lockhaven, via Rootwallov, Copperwood and Elmoss to Barkstone, but how never arrived to Copperwood. To Gill Gwendolyn also told, that the peddler might be a spy, trying to sell infromation from Lockhaven to Barkstone, trying to hide within normal commercial traffic.

The patrol was traveling the road between Rootwalloc and Copperwood, Radulf scouting ahead. A bit off the main trail he found an overturned grain cart, but he was soon to regret going alone to investigate the cart: Radulf heard an angry hiss coming from behind him, and saw a snake hissing and baring it's teeth. Alone he could not survive, so he ran away with the snake hot on his heels. At last he managed to escape, but he was really tired after all the excercise.

After Radulf had returned and received his reproaches form his foolhardy actions, the patrol decided that only way ahead was to kill the snake: it´s a risk to travellers, and the grain cart was their only lead. Even for a whole patrol the snake was not an easy prey: after the dust settled, Gill and Gunrey were lying on the ground, unable to keep fighting, but their brave charge wounded the snake enough for Beagan and Radulf to kill it. Tired and wounded, the patrol slept the night with their bellies full of fried snake. Gill suprised everybody by making something edible from the snake! 

In the morning the patrol finds the peddler, killed by snake poison, lying nearby: the snake musta have been starting its diner when the patrol went by! Gunrey examines the body, and finds a detailed map of Lockhaven, but tries to hide it. Beagan notices, and Gunrey tries to attack with his fists. Seeing his pupil´s actions, Gill jumps between them and easily knocks Gunrey unconscious with his staff.

The patrol is tired, wounded, in the middle of forest with a dead spy. Who was the spy working for? How will Radulf react, if somebody from his hometown is scheming against the Guard? Why did Gunrey try to hide the map?