[DitV] Three-Streams Valley

[travisjhall]

I'm running DitV for the first time, at last, tomorrow, and figured I'd post my town for a little advice before then.

A few restrictions on this... For a variety of reasons specific to the players, I wish to avoid issues involving sex, romance and marriage for this first game. I know these players, and we'll hit those themes a little further down the track, but it would be far better for those issues to come when the players indicate (through characters and play) that they are ready. I reckon they'll implicitly give leave for it by town 2 - we're a hardy bunch here, more inclined to bring our real-world issues to the table and beat them into submission until we feel good about ourselves and learn something in the process - but it has to something for the players to bring out.

And when you get down to it, that chops out a whole lot of pride possibilities... but I'll get by.

Also, these players will be new to the game, and so I don't yet know what their characters issues will be. The first town has to be pretty generic.

So, without further ado, I present to you Three-Streams Valley... or what I have of it so far. I'm not finished writing it up yet, but I've got a friend here to take me to a DVD night. Anyway, there's enough here that people will have a good idea what's going on, and I'll have plenty of time to finish it off in the morning. All thoughts are welcome.


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The community of Three-Streams Valley was founded only a few years ago, way down south. As far as anyone in Bridal Falls City knows, they've never had a visit from the Dogs. Come to that, the Dogs' Temple didn't even know they were there until last year – seems the Territorial rider who was supposed to take care of the paperwork got lost in the canyons above the valley, and while he found his way home again, the exact location of the Three-Streams Valley township wasn't known until Steward Wilson sent a man to find out why the tax collector had never been through. When the Dogs' Stewards finally heard, they were overjoyed, as the settlers had long before been written off as another wagon train that got lost and died in the desert or attacked by Mountain People.

So it's high time a Dog or three visited Three-Streams Valley, just to check up on them. It shouldn't be a tough job. After all, how much can have gone wrong in only two or three years? But it is important to keep every community in contact with the wider Faithful.

Three-Streams hasn't been entirely out of contact, though. The man who brought news of the new community told of how small the little town was, and a new group of settlers chose to head down that way. Assuming there was still room enough on the land – and it sounded like there was – they would be able to join an existing community, rather than having to start from scratch, and their presence would ease the heavy burden that the first settlers had surely shouldered for long enough. And if there wasn't the space, well, south was as good a direction as any to look for good land.

That was the idea, but we all know that aphorism about good intentions and paving stones.

When the new group of settlers arrived in Three-Streams Valley, the flatlands on the valley floor, in between the streams, had already been divvied up amongst the Faithful. Provision hadn't really been made for leaving space on the best lands for new arrivals. Steward Wilson gave some brief consideration to asking the new arrivals to move on, but he quickly discarded that option, as this wagon train, like the Territorial rider, had gotten lost in the canyons, and were looking the worse for wear by the time they made it through (unlike the rider). The original settlers had always intended for their township to grow, just a little slower, so there was still room, especially in the hills of the upper Valley and beyond Deep Canyon Stream to the east. In consultation with his newly-appointed Counselor Michael Travers, who had served as Steward to the second wagon-train, Steward Wilson set about finding the newcomers places to live – some working in the town, where their skills in areas other than farming were most required, some to build houses on land already occupied by families whose allotment was too large to work on their own, and a goodly number in the hills. A few amongst the newcomers chose to move on, perhaps foreseeing the trouble that soon came. Those last headed west, with Counselor Travers' blessing and extra wagons that were no longer needed by those who were settling, hoping to find empty space or an established town were they would fit in better.

The allotment of places to the new settlers did not go entirely smoothly. Not everyone wanted to make room for the newcomers. Most significantly, Jeremiah Hastings adamantly refused to give up any of his land, despite the fact that he was not yet able to get full use out of it. His allotment was bound on the east- and northern edge by Deep Canyon Stream, and he declared that he'd run off anybody who tried to take his family's livelihood from him. Jeremiah rallied the support of a number of the easternmost farmers, and Steward Wilson acceded to his demands, despite the privately-voiced protests of Counselor Travers.

This meant that a group of farmers was assigned to the hills to the north and east of the Deep Canyon Stream. This land is significantly poorer land, often rocky and hard to clear, but with effort should have been quite fertile. The newcomers grumbled about the additional hardship, but were, for a time, satisfied.

What nobody realized was just how fickle the Deep Canyon Stream was. Deep Canyon runs far back to the north, and is fed by rainfall on the plains well beyond the catchment area of the other two streams. That season, the northern plains had little rain, and Deep Canyon Steam dried up completely. Local rains sustained the crops that the newcomers were raising on what land they had cleared, but they had no water for their livestock (and little enough for themselves).

Steward Wilson stepped in to try to help the people he had sent to the east. He organized others to care for the remaining livestock from the hills until the stream began to flow again. Unfortunately, when water did start to flow once more, and the hillsfolk asked for the return of their livestock, many of the original settlers considered that they should receive payment in kind for saving the livestock. After all, if they hadn't helped, the hillsfolk wouldn't have any animals at all, would they? All told, only about half of the livestock was returned to the northerners.

Daniel Crow was livid. He was ready to ride into town with a posse to take what was theirs. At the time, he'd have probably gotten shut down pretty fast, though, as he and his boys would have been outnumbered about five to one, and that might have been the end of the whole mess. Luckily for him, he didn't get that far. The demons saw to that.

See, when the drought to the north broke, it broke hard. The people of Three-Streams Valley never saw the storm that caused the Deep Canyon Stream to flood. The waters rushed out the mouth of the canyon, cutting off Brother Daniel and his followers, and washing all the way across the flatlands to Sandy Stream in the west.

Now it was the flatlanders who were doing it hard, as the flash flood washed out both crops and livestock. There may be time to get another crop in before winter hits, but there's a real danger that townsfolk will starve before then.

So now, we've got one group sitting in the hills, sitting on their food, organizing their own community while Faithful on the other side of Deep Canyon Stream go hungry. To top things off, Daniel Crow decided that his people's spiritual needs could not go untended, and they certainly couldn't attend the church in town, so he's taken matters into his own hands. He's organized


Pride?
Jeremiah Hastings and his friends hold more land than they could reasonably work so soon. He and his consider the land their right. They also consider the

Daniel Crow and his friends consider the produce of their land to be theirs to do with as they likes, now that their neighbors on the flatlands have been bitten by their selfishness.

Counselor Travers thinks he would make a better Steward than Ira Wilson, after seeing him fail to stand up for the newcomers.

Injustice?
Steward Ira Wilson tried to maintain peace by assigning the newcomers to work the land beyond Deep Canyon Stream.

Now many townsfolk are going hungry, despite the fact that Daniel Crow and his followers have food to share.

Sin?
The failure of the westerners to return the livestock of the hill-dwellers is tantamount to theft.

Demonic Attacks?
The demons' attack came in a pretty roundabout way this time. First, they caused the lack of rain to the north which made times so hard for the hill-dwellers. Then, they reversed the strategy, causing the flood which has devastated the town. This has deepened the rift between flatlanders and hill-dwellers, cut off the hill-dwellers from proper worship and brought imminent danger of starvation, as well as just plain drowning a dozen or so Faithful.

False Doctrine?
Daniel Crow is the Steward of the of Deep Canyon Stream branch. He leads his folk in worship in Deep Canyon itself (not a true temple).

False Priesthood?
Unbeknownst to the townfolk, Counselor Michael Travers is secretly supporting Daniel Crow, aiding him not only in administering his new community, but in providing for them religiously. They aren't a priesthood yet, but they only need one more...

Sorcery?
Not yet.

Hate & Murder?
The Hastings mob are ready to shoot anyone caught crossing Deep Canyon Stream. The Crow gang aren't far behind. They hate each other, but nobody is dead yet.

What do the townspeople want from the Dogs?
Steward Ira Wilson wants the Dogs to force Daniel Crow to hand over his food, so that everybody has enough to get through until the next harvest (maybe, just).

Counselor Michael Travers wants the Dogs to place the whole town under his Stewardship.

Daniel Crow wants the Dogs recognize his folk as a separate branch, under his Stewardship. He also wants payment for the stolen livestock.

Jeremiah Hastings wants the Dogs to give his people food from the hill-dwellers. While he has Steward Wilson pretty much under his thumb, he may also decide that he wants the Dogs to make him Steward, as he is not at all impressed by Steward Wilson.


What do the demons want?
The demons want to find a third leader for the Deep Canyon worshippers, to make it a proper False Priesthood which can start using sorcery. They want the

What do the demons want the Dogs to do?


What would happen if the Dogs didn't come?
Jeremiah Hastings would led a group into the hills and shoot a bunch of Daniel Crow's followers, and get gunned down in return.

[lumpley]

I strongly recommend that for a first town with new Dogs players, you go all the way to hate and murder.

-Vincent

[travisjhall]

Before the Dogs have arrived, or during the course of the game? I can easily have this situation have resulted in shootings across Deep Canyon Stream, but figured with people already drowned due to demonic attacks, and flatlanders ready to go a-raiding into the hills (quite possibly while Dogs are travelling from one area to another, as it'll be a bit of a ride) that was probably enough death going around.

[travisjhall]

I wish to avoid issues involving sex, romance and marriage for this first game.

Well, there's a resolution that didn't last through character creation. Ah, I love these guys. One gave me a convert dog whose mother was a whore and who had been sexually abused in childhood. Another wound up beating up his father. And these things were in the accomplishment conflicts.

We didn't even get to the meat of Three-Streams Valley. By the time we were done with character creation, we didn't have a huge amount of time. They've met a few of the townsfolk, but only have enough information to say, "Ya know, there's stuff they're not telling us." (So there's still time to ramp up the sins of Three-Streams if I care to - though I'm not sure I'll change it, because the only reason they aren't at the Hate & Murder stage is opportunity. The emotions are there, and that's what seems to matter for the purpose of getting conflict.)

More another time, if anyone is interested. It's late now, and bed beckons.