The Journey to Cosutanu
The party will travel by horseback from Bulostioi to Cosutanu, along a fairly heavily trafficked road. It is the middle of the month of Trowel; the end spring. The weather is warm and pleasant, though rain usually comes for a short period each day. The crops are starting to mature, and in the rural farming lands around each village, workers can be seen weeding and thinning and tending to crops. Livestock and their young can be seen and heard everywhere; lambs bleating loudly for milk, or ducklings waddling behind their mother toward a nearby pond.
Typically, the characters will pass a coach or carriage transporting travellers, or a cart carrying farmers, field workers or other ordinary folk about once every hour from dawn to dusk. Once a day they will typically pass a patrol of guards, in most cases working for the Order of the Flaming Sword. With each passing day, however, the characters will notice the number of travellers diminishing due to traffic having been rerouted to avoid Cosutanu.
The characters will pass through four small villages on the way to Cosutanu; Mirel, Brokewheel, Dumalc and Garagalo. These are not marked on the maps, and none of them is much more than a crossroads with an inn, a small market stall or general store, a stables, and a dovecote. They arrive at one each evening for the first four days, before arriving at Cosutanu itself after sunset on the fifth day. At each village there will be a message waiting for them at the dovecote, and there will be rooms waiting for them at the inn; these have been reserved and their room and board paid in advance by authorities in Bulostioi, so they will not need to pay for anything.
Mirel, Free States of Bulostioi 18 Trowel, 1423
At the dovecote in Mirel, the party receives an update from Cosutanu.
MESSAGE - STATUS EOD 17 TROWEL
End of Day, 17 Trowel, three new infected, bringing total number to 10 individuals in 4 families, all under quarantine and guarded.
Brokewheel, Free States of Bulostioi 19 Trowel, 1423
In Brokewheel, the party receives an update from Cosutanu.
MESSAGE - STATUS EOD 18 TROWEL
End of Day, 18 Trowel, three new infected bringing total number to 13 individuals in 4 families, all under quarantine and guarded. OFS reinforcements arrived to help secure village and enforce quarantine. Additionally, the purported ghost attempted another attack. The victim escaped unharmed, but fear is spreading.
Dumalc, Free States of Bulostioi 20 Trowel, 1423
Stopping to change their horses in Dumalc, the party receives another daily update from Cosutanu.
MESSAGE - STATUS EOD 19 TROWEL
End of Day, 19 Trowel. Terrible news. Four new infections in two new families. One has also succumbed. While being removed from his home, he rose as a ghoul, violently lashed out, and was promptly slain and then burned. Worse, four who were very ill have disappeared from their home and have not been seen since.
An Optional Encounter
Before reaching Garagalo on the last night before their arrival in Cosutanu, there is a single optional encounter designed to familiarize new players with the game. This encounter is mainly intended for groups who have never played Mythmaster before, and is specifically supported with additional notes to help the Director and players learn the core rules of the game.
If your group is familiar with Mythmaster or comfortable enough with table-top RPGs in general, and you wish to skip this optional encounter you may.
If you wish to play the optional encounter, then do not provide the last dovecote message, below, to the players, and instead skip ahead to the next section, the Garagalo Dovecote.
If you DO NOT wish to play the optional encounter, then give the message below to the players and continue on to the Arrival at Cosutanu.
Garagalo, Free States of Bulostioi 21 Trowel, 1423
At the dovecote outside the village of Garagalo, the last stop on their journey, the party receives a final message.
MESSAGE - STATUS EOD 20 TROWEL
End of Day, 20 Trowel. Six new infections, and our first reported recovery - she has been moved to the Church to be cared for as her family remains quite ill. Frightfully, seven escaped from their homes at nightfall and attempted to exhume the recently interred corpse of Gavriela Nectria from the cemetery. They were engaged by the town guard and one was slain – the other six fled.
NOTE: This last message is DIFFERENT than the message the players might recover if they play the optional encounter. If you play the optional encounter, the message received at Garagalo will include additional information about some fugitives. These fugitives do not exist if this optional encounter is skipped.