In honor of Janice's nephews, I put together a quick setting which would be less involved than the Katsuyama plot twists. Ancient Briton/Caledonia (England/Scotland for you non-history types). The players are playing Romans or barbarians attached to the Roman army as Rome tries to conquer what we now call Scotland (and historically what they couldn't conquer for many a year). Here is the motley crew for those who didn't make Friday night.

Sgt. Saun - Bobby - Effeminate Human Fighter 2
Cpl. Draco - Harley - Sensible Half-Orc Cleric 2
Lance Cpl. Ranger Dave - Dave - Scout Ranger Dwarf 2
Pvt. Grum - Adam - TheRob-like Human Rogue 2
Pvt. JuJu - Janice - Intelligent Half-Orc Barbarian 2
Pvt. Trogdor - Jasper - Another Intelligence Half-Orc Barbarian 2

The direct commanding officer is Lt. Danivus, who, unfortunately, lost his legs in the last conflict with one of the Caledonian tribes. He was saved by none other than Ranger Dave, hereafter known as Forrest. Lt. Danivus believed his destiny was to die in battle but since he can no longer do so, it is the job of his detail to die for him. Naturally, he volunteers his detail for all the suicide missions.

The party was sent out to scout the Caledonian lands to get an estimate of troop strength as well as to recruit potential allies. Of course, Sgt. Saun, being the suave and fashionable one and liking men in skirts, er, kilts, was in charge. The group initially ran across a large number of orcs but to Ranger Dave's quick thinking (unreal intelligence... possibly a gift from the gods above), the party got clear to the forest line. Well, Grum didn't clear the initial sentries who made him feel like Bobby the Arrow Sprouter. By the time all was said and done, they counted hundreds of orcs all headed for Hadrian's Wall.

Camping in the forest at night, the group was first visited by a pseudo-dragon that only Pvt. JuJu saw (kind of like those toad spirits). However, Pvt. Grum was on the stinging end of its tail. Later, the group was visited by a Dryad, who promptly ensured Draco, Saun, and Trogdor got a good night's rest. She tinkered with Grum's mind, but in the end nothing came of it. JuJu woke up before anything bad could happen and found the naked dryad as well as Draco and Saun in a compromising position.

The group proceeded along the treeline at daybreak, being wary of elven patrols (who hate Romans and their barbarian allies) the dryad warned them about. They then saw a green dragon coming ashore and began moving quickly towards the plateau after discerning elven marksmen were waiting for them in the forest. This led Forrest, I mean Ranger Dave, to run away from both threats. They were able to get away from the dragon and the elves, only to watch the dragon completely overwhelm the elves. Meanwhile, they meandered into kobold territory. Ranger Dave spotted something glinting and put an arrow in it. It was a kobold who was using a spyglass. On the kobold they found a note in draconic and orcish detailing a conspiracy, supposedly from the garrison commander, General Maximus. The group decided to return to the fort but Grum couldn't wait. He ended up getting skewered by 5 spears pitched by kobolds. The kobolds were congratulating themselves until they caught sight of JuJu and Trogdor (22 and 20 strength, respectively) and decided to run from the orcish wrecking crew.

Though Grum had angered the cleric by threatening to kill him (for no good reason), Draco still fished out one of Grum's healing potions and saved his life. The party then returned through Hadrian's Wall, which they saw bore acid and fire damage. They later learned the damage was done by black and red dragons, probably from Wales. This matched up with the conspiracy note they had in hand. Showing the note to Lt. Danivus (who was ticked they had returned alive), he noted that the mark was not that of General Maximus. Looking at another document, he matched the mark with that of Governor Brutus of Vinovia, south of the encampment at the base of the wall (Pons Aelii - modern day Newcastle). The party was then dispatched, along with official orders, to put Brutus into custody.

And that's where we'll pick up Friday night. We'll probably go with this campaign a while as there seemed to be more creativity and interaction than with Katsuyama

In other words, the party was able to infiltrate the town. They were able to get an audience with the governor. They learned the traitor wasn't the governor, but his "physician." The governor himself was being manipulated with magic. The perp? A large and nasty red dragon who wants to see the Roman occupation of Briton come to an end.

That's where we'll pick up next week.