The Burning Season
Summer in Bravado is brutal in a way that outsiders cannot really appreciate. The oppressive heat brings everything to a halt - even zed and raiders. During the hottest part of the summer, the heat can ignite the dry brush and wildfires can spark in a moment’s notice. The fires of the Burning Season can even ignite the undead as they shamble during the afternoon peak, and the burned corpses sometimes stay lit for days at a time. Raiders shelter in tunnels below, and even the bustling city of Essex is quiet in the afternoon as residents shelter from the heat.
The Burning Season is a significant threat during the summer, but the hardy natives of the Lone Star have adapted with a stubborn persistence. Many residents travel north during the summer, and the population of Essex and Bastion often reach their lowest points during the extreme heat of the Burning Season. Houses and buildings often need to be repaired once the weather cools, and there are hours of easy-to-find work for anyone willing to pitch in. In the first part of fall, often known as Sept-Embers, scorched zed are a nuisance that must be dealt with until the weather cools.
[OOC Note] Due to the summer heat in Texas and the Girl Scout camp that operates during the summer, we take a break from our regular games during the summer months. The Burning Season is the narrative explanation for the break.
the long night
Every year, the Long Night brings the San Saba to a quiet halt. The cold weather and the deep shadows cloak the region in an inky gloom during the deepest part of winter, a remnant of the radioactive blast used to level old Bravo so many years ago. As the shadows lengthen and twist through the trees, the mournful wail of the undead seems closer than ever. The candlelight glow of shrines and memorials dot the landscape of every town nearby as the Long Night draws to a close, but the threats remain.
Each year, the skies around the San Saba grow darker earlier than normal and things start to stir in the night. Where as the influence of terrible undead terrors like the Outsiders, the Nightmares, and Longwalkers are long gone, there are still mysteries that go bump in the night. Previous stories of these creatures are a thing of the past, but as the shadows lengthen, one can’t help but wonder…
Every survivor in the area hunkers down for the dour cold of January, barricading doors against the churning masses of undead and terrible critters that hunt the darkness. Undead grow restless in the gloom, and the more predatory dead like Hunters and Gore Hounds roam further than ever. Critters react strangely to the increased radiation, mutating and changing for a new year, like shifting into a new skin or a fresh change of clothes. Raiders grow more desperate, breaking down doors in the wee hours of the morning hunting for dwindling fresh meat, much to the consternation of those survivors huddled inside. The winter is a time where survival is not just a memory, but a mandate.
Ghost stories and frightful tales take center stage during the Long Night, as the huddled masses share legends and memories of times long before. From terrible faced things many hands taller than any survivor, to glowing apparitions in the forest on moonlit nights, the imaginations of survivors run wild during this time. No one is truly sure exactly what stirs during the darkest hours of the Long Night, but there is something out there. Strange footprints, sounds, and evidence of things moving about in the woods around Bravado are not just figments of an overactive imagination. There are terrible threats that hunt the night and any sane survivor takes shelter from the creeping darkness.
Daylight is spent on anxious and focused survival, gathering food and herbs to eat, refilling water stores with mostly rad-free water, and spending the few hours left repairing and maintaining the protections for the upcoming night. Families spend time repairing armor, barricades, and gear from the threats the night before, and try their best to prepare for what is coming. There’s precious little time for true community in the cold winter nights, so the focus instead turns inwards — to those closest and most cherished. When survival is even more desperate, you hold close that which matters most.
Many strains have traditions of candlelight memorials, remembrances, or simply celebrations to remember those that have been lost. Some share simple meals, pray for the salvation of the next dawn, or share thanks for what remains. The gloomy conditions bring a somber, but hopeful tone for the upcoming year, as the few weeks of darkness will eventually give way to a return to the searing sun of the San Saba soon enough. As the Long Night comes to end, thoughts of seeing friends once more and gathering in town becomes a welcome respite.
How did you survive the Long Night? Where there any strange happenings that you recall from the darkest hours of the year? What preparations did you take? What traditions did you share with your loved ones, or what have your mourned during the Long Night? Share with us your stories and we hope to see you at our next event!
[OOC Note] Camp Bluebonnet Shores is closed in January for repair and time off for the holidays. To explain this time away in-character, we have The Long Night. Massive clouds appear over the town, huge stationary mountains that block the light of the sun. It lasts about a month until the sun comes out again and life resumes itself in all its baleful splendor
the fog of memories
In the wake of The War of Antlers and battle against The Prince Undying, we have added a new story effect to explain why the outside world no longer cares as much about Bravado as it did in seasons past. This has no actual mechanical effect beyond what the players decide, but it is simply a cool narrative way to address continuity going forward.
Some suggest that the effects of capturing the Prince Undying within the Bravado Mortis appears to have created a strange phenomenon that is now impacting the residents of Bravado. Others simply point out that without an organizing government like the San Saba Board, most folks tend to mind their own business. With travel being tougher across the San Saba, it’s easy for people not to want to risk a dangerous journey after all.
Regardless of the cause, it started small and sometime shortly after the Burning Season began. People began to forget Bravado unless they were actively living there or had some sympathetic tie to the town. As it continues to worsen, people literally forget about the town unless they have a reason to remember it. People with a strong connection or tie to the town like your characters are more resistant to the effect, but the effect increases the further you travel from Bravado. Every month, some new traveler arrives in town, surprised to find the town and even more surprised to find folks living there.
Much like something that is out of sight, or out of mind, it’s a subtle effect for most, and leads to small mistakes and forgetfulness that interrupts regular trade and commerce. Repairmen forget to make the trip to check the rail lines leading into Bravado, and merchants accidentally miss the stop as they daydream about something else. Important faction leaders focus on other settlements nearby, and don’t make it a priority to visit Bravado. For those that don’t live actively in the town, it’s as easy to forget as some small random town in another state could be in real life. If someone brings it up, folks might have a spark of memory, but it quickly fades into obscurity when it fades from their attention.
There are no mechanics - This story represents the decay of relationships and how people or places fade in time. The themes here are not catastrophic but about distance and nostalgia.
This story is optional - You get to decide how much The Fog of Memories impacts your character, if at all. This is intended as a way to leave unfinished stories in the past, exploring new horizons as we move away from older stories. Perhaps this amnesia can provoke new character connections or let you start fresh as if you just arrived in town.
This isn’t something to fix - The Fog is simply part of Bravado now. As the story is optional, you can simply choose to ignore it. Research or plot requests aren’t going to make the fog go away.