[tshiggins]

Meanwhile, Aurelia had spent time with the prisoners, and learned a few things about the local area of the 1918 world:

-The red-headed kid, James “Jimmy” Erland, had been kicked out of the compound of his family, in early spring, after he and his father’s youngest wife had fallen in love. Erland said this happens every now and then, in the polygamist Mormon families.

-Erland said he’d traveled to the town of Lago Salado, on the southern shore of the salt lake, which acted as a haven, of sorts, for people who had nowhere else. That made it a lawless, dangerous place full of exiles who made money any way they could.

-Much of the money in Lago Salado comes from back-breaking labor in the salt pans, as the town produces purified salt and agricultural goods for trade. Most of it travels south along the Rio Grande del Norte (the name of the Colorado River, in La Colonia de Nova España), and then turns east to Santa Fe.

-Some of the goods go east to the Hopi and Navaho farming settlements in the Valle Grande (those nations are much further north than in the U.S. of 2014), where the Rio de San Javier empties into the Rio Grande del Norte. The Valle Grande Indian settlements also act as the primary point of trade between northern Nova España and the United States.

-The Ute people still exist as a nation, and have numerous settlements along the length of the Rio Grande del Norte, between the Valle Grande and the vast Yavapai Cañón. They herd horses, cattle and sheep, and take a cut of the trade that moves from Lago Salado and Valle Grande to Santa Fe.

-Apaches wander around nomadically, taking any work they can get and surviving as best they can.

-Generally speaking, the Indians have hard lives and lost most of their populations to disease, just as they did in the party’s home world. However, the Spanish never subjected the Indians to any sort of reservation system, and mostly leave them alone. That makes the nations much better off than they were in the 1918 of the party’s world.

-As such, the Indians will sometimes take in Mormon boys who have been kicked out of their families, for whatever reason. Once the young men have proven themselves, the Indians permit them to join the tribe and take wives. That’s what Jimmy hoped to do with the Olleros Apaches, from whence the war party came.

-The river ford that led to the foundation of Moab in the modern world appears in the 1918 world, in about the same place. However, no town currently exists there, although the area has some nice campsites the local Utes keep in good condition.

The conscious Apache, Itza-chu "Izzy" Norroso, confirmed Jimmy’s information, and said he’d only taken part in the raid because the former leader (shot during the first encounter) was about his only friend. He’d accompanied this raid, as well, because he had a drinking problem that the other Olleros Apaches considered “weak.” He agreed that, in exchange for a bottle of whiskey, he’d never come near the party, again.

Aurelia fetched him a bottle of the Stranahan’s sent along for faceting as spell components, by McShane.

About the time Beatrice and Henrietta rolled back into camp, a group of horsemen trotted down from the north. Señor Reyes and Jeb, accompanied by Reyes’ 16-year-old son and four hacienda gauchos, comprised the group. Apparently, Reyes’ son had dashed home as fast as possible, and then returned with reinforcements to the ruined cabin to wait for his father.

The gauchos gave the group some hard looks, and the party returned the favor, but the situation remained peaceful. Señor Reyes said he’d take the two living Indians and Jimmy off the party’s hands. Aurelia finally agreed, after she wrung from him a promise that he wouldn’t kill the two Indians outright, and would let Jimmy go once they reached a settlement.

Reyes agreed to the terms, because he said he “had a use for” the two Indians, and didn’t particularly care what happened to the red-headed kid.

With that, the groups parted ways. The party returned through the portal about an hour before sunset, and made their way out of Dark Canyon to their waiting vehicles.

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We ended the evening with a discussion of Decanic magic, and the players learned the Decans associated with the birthdates of their characters. We also went over the various materials (colors, metals, stones, plants, etc.) associated with those decans.

(I changed a few things, because I want ferrous metals in the setting to cause problems for magic. As such, Aries is associated with vanadium, instead of iron, and Pisces with titanium, instead of steel.)

After that discussion, McShane charged each of them with the construction of an athame, a chalice, a wand and an amulet, which should incorporate the symbols and substances associated with their birth signs.

She also said they should give some thought to the creation of sacred ritual spaces of their own, built in a place or places they considered uniquely theirs.

Magic relies heavily on the four elements, with “spirit” or “soul” as the fifth element, McShane explained. As such, ritual space needed to be isolated enough to allow for quiet introspection, secureable against interruption by interlopers, and incorporate all four of the elements. The mages count as the fifth element, she said, and the ritual space needed to include what most mages usually called an “altar,” but was really just a work-table.

The space didn’t need to be in a building or anything -- an isolated cave or thick grove of trees would do, she said -- but a rented house or apartment would be wholly inadequate.

In the meantime, they could use the ritual space at the back of Nova Nepenthe, since McShane would need to be close by so she could teach them and monitor progress, anyway.

That ended a very busy session.

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Funny quotes:

(The group goes through the pile of spell components loaded into crates.)
Randy: Anybody wanna drink the Stranahan's?

(The party discusses a marching order that includes the presence of the questionable Jeb and Señor Reyes.)
Beatrice (to Henrietta): You're driving the ATV.
Randy: Guys? We need the ATV!
Beatrice (to Randy): Fine, I'll drive it. You ride bitch.

(The firefight ends, and the party starts to render first aid to the shot-up Apaches.)
Debbie (OOC): I can do this! (Rolls a critical failure on First Aid, and her face turns bright red.)
Beatrice (IC) : Goddammit! Jesus Christ, I will shoot you, myself!
Anten (OOC, and Debbie's husband): Now, that's funny!
GM: You roll the best critical failures, ever. Roll damage!

(After everybody is patched up, and Doc Bascher has gotten busy with field surgery, the rest of the group starts to scatter.)
Beatrice: We've got all day, guys! Let's go explore!
Aurelia: Hey! Giant pterodactyl magpies!
Beatrice: A.J.'s the one who missed shooting them. Talk to him.
A.J.: I'm not the one who missed shooting them! I'm the one who yelled, and nobody paid any attention!

Aurelia: We're on the hostages. Good cop / bad cop?
Randy: Yeah, let's do this.
Both: [fist bump]

(The party has returned to Grand Junction from the eventful trip, and McShane assigns them the task of creating or acquiring the basic magic tools.)
Randy: So, JC, do you happen to sell any of this stuff..?
JoCat: As a matter of fact, I do!