If the players’ cats look under the shrub near the unconscious apprentice, they can see the mouth of a large burrow (much larger than the one in scene 14, if the cats’ journey followed that route). Have any cat exploring this area make a Smell Check. If the Check has a total of 8 or higher, the cat knows that there are other cat scents here, but cannot be sure whether or not they belong to the missing apprentices. If the Check has a total of 12 or higher, the cat recognizes the scents of the other apprentices and is sure that they went down into the burrow. If the Check has a total of 15 or higher, the cat realizes that there are also scents for a handful of weasels, not just the one they smelled on the unconscious apprentice—this burrow is home to a group of the vicious creatures.
The only way for the players’ cats to rescue the apprentices is to go down into the weasel burrow and get them. But as the Narrator, you should never force the players to make their cats do anything that dangerous—the players must make that decision for themselves. Your job as Narrator is simply to give the players the information they need to decide what their next course of action will be.
Describe the situation and the things that the cats know for certain. If the players’ cats want to try different tactics to, perhaps, entice the weasels to come out of the burrow, let them—but they will not be successful. If the players’ cats do anything that will let the apprentices know that they are there, the young cats will begin crying out for help. They can tell the players’ cats that they are, indeed, in the burrow somewhere (though they can’t say exactly where) and that the weasels are guarding them and looking at them hungrily.
When the cats finally decide to head into the burrow, tell them that the tunnel is wide enough for them to walk through one at a time, or squeeze through two at a time. After a twisting, turning path downward, the burrow forks in half. There are now two tunnels. The scents are confused and the sounds echo through the underground passageways. There is no way to be sure which way leads to the apprentices—the players’ cats will just have to guess.
It’s possible that the players will want their cats to split up and search both tunnels at the same time. If so, have them tell you which cats are going in which tunnels.
What Happens Next: If the players’ cats want to follow the right hand tunnel, continue with 20.
If the players’ cats want to follow the left hand tunnel, continue with 16.
If the players’ cats want to split up and try both tunnels, roleplay the left hand tunnel first, then continue with 16.
After the Adventure
After the last scene of the adventure has been played, the game itself is not necessarily over. There still are a few things you can do if the players want to keep at it.
Play It Again
If the players’ cats chose to make hunting the first thing they taught their temporary apprentices, you may want to go back and play again so that the group can experience the action to be had in the stalking and border patrol tests. Or perhaps you just want to go back and pick up the adventure again somewhere in the middle where it feels like things went wrong. In either case, your cat would be right back where he or she was and have another chance to try to find a more favorable outcome.
One of the great things about storytelling games is that you can always tell the story again. And, since there are many different ways the players’ cats could choose to interact with their temporary apprentices, the story could unwind in a different way every time you play (particularly as different Narrators get to guide the storyline).
Experience
If the cats completed the adventure successfully, then they all get Experience rewards. It is important to note, though, that each cat can only get experience from this adventure once! If you play through and successfully finish the adventure several times, your cat only gains the rewards listed below after first time he or she completes the adventure.
If you use different cats each time, though, each one can get the experience rewards. The rule is not that a player can only get experience once, it’s that a cat can.
Age: Although the action in this adventure clearly happens over the course of a single day, the presumption is that this is the most interesting and exciting thing that happens to your cat during the whole of that moon. Increase your cat’s age by 1 moon and make any appropriate improvements described in Chapter Four of the game rules.
Skilclass="underline" On top of the improvements your cat gets from aging, he or she also gains 1 level in one of the following skills: Listen, Ponder, or Smell.
Knack: If the players’ cats rescued the missing apprentices without fighting the weasels (and your final scene was 21), your cat also gains one level of the Clan Lore Knack.
