The Bearded Goose

Wonderland No More is a recently released Savage Worlds setting from the brain trust that is Triple Ace Games. A lot can be said of the fun that comes from playing Chessmen, Cards, Animals, Plants and anything else you may want to imagine.

And with that in mind, I grabbed the intro adventure of Egg of Seven Parts and took the crew of Game Night™ at the International House of Johnson® into the Looking Glass Lands, to see what they could do with it.

Most of the group wanted to just jump into the action, so I had printed up the large number of pre-generated characters TAG offered, laid them on the table, and had them choose their new alter ego.

Here’s how the starting cast lined up:

• King’s Rook White, a Chessman Pawn, played by Gunnar
• Felicia Moon, a Rose (Plant) Lady Thief, played by Laura
• Gunflower Stan, a Sunflower (Plant) Mercenary, played by Laura’s husband, KJToo
• Reverend “Fred” Grolps, a Frog (Animal) Alician Priest, played by codeshaman
• The Cheshire Kit, a Cat (Animal) Prankster, played by Mr. David Mead
• Magpie,¹ a Magpie (Animal) Gourmancer, played by Nycteris

The adventure began.

SPOILER ALERT! If you are a player, and you think you may be playing this adventure sometime in the future, you may want to stop reading.

Our heroes were minding their own business when they happened upon a tragedy. Humpty Dumpty, that intelligent being that is constantly being put back together by the White King’s men and horses, had fallen again. But, this time, someone had run off with most of his pieces, leaving only his face upon the ground, which cried for help.

Running to provide assistance, the heroes arrived in time to be blamed for the pushing by both the egg and the arriving Lion, leading the horses and men.

Luckily, the Lion was dubious of the egg’s claims, but charged the party with the recovery of Humpty’s pieces, lightly veiling an “or else” within the words.

With that, the Lion and forces returned to Whitefield, and the heroes began a search of the premises around Humpty’s place of impact. Only a few minute passed before a small piece of ivory and a dollop of honey were found. A bit of pondering on these clues led Gunflower Stan to announce that he thought the trail led to the Field of Flying Elephants. KJToo earned a bennie for putting this together and saying, “Elephant Bumblebees?” I thought this was probably as close as they’d get without just making some Common Knowledge rolls for the characters. Thus, the party commenced on their journey into the Chessboard Fields.²

A few hours of uneventful travel followed. But, during the time in the fifth rank on the western edge, a squad of twelve Red Pawns rushed out from cover, ambushing the party.

Reverend Grolp quickly raised his hands, calling out that they were on a Most Holy Quest for Alice and the poor Humpty Dumpty, begging that they be left unmolested and allowed to continue, while also espousing the tenants of his religion. codeshaman earned quite a few bennies as the Frog as he roleplayed wonderfully with a great voice and took on the frog priest’s personality. The Red Pawn leader actually had dropped the tip of his spear and was about to let them on their way when King’s Rook White, sworn enemy of the Reds tried to charge them.

Some quick thinking and action on the Frog’s part halted that action, but unfortunately it did not escape the attention of the Red Pawns. “Whitefield!” they accused, and charged as well.

Thankfully, Magpie was ready. She quickly popped one of her specialty hot pepper cakes into her mouth and immediately blew fire upon the wooden opponents. Four of them went up in a blaze. The remainder split up, attacking the party evenly, though a few extra went after the hated White Pawn.

The rest of the fight was a bit of a blur, including a Frog riding a White Pawn, having cast a spell of Speed upon the wooden “steed.” Gunflower Stan doing what he did best in a voice that kept me, the GM, laughing, though it tended to grate a little on the other players. I couldn’t stop laughing. Magpie, Felicia, and Kit did their thing as well. Soon, all were dispatched and a funeral pyre was blazing, presided over by Grolps.

NEXT: A swollen river is hazardously crossed and flying elephants are met.

1. this one was the only non-pre-gen character [↩]
2. The Chess Board Fields is the name given to a vast area, divided into an 8 by 8 grid of squares, by a network of streams and brooks. It covers the majority of the Looking Glass Lands. The fields once served as the battleground between the Red and White forces. Now, save for the occasional skirmish, they are fairly peaceful. [↩]