#frontierverse

[thepioden]

Let it be said, however, that when my friends and I want to play something not DnD we don't reskin DnD OR play an indie game that more closely matches the story we want but instead a secret third thing*

*spend dozens of hours meticulously crafting a new system from the ground up that will be used for this campaign and this campaign ONLY

[unshaven-insane]

Sending Mr. and Mr. Brewster for Benny and Caleb :D

I might have two here, hold on :D

Modern AU

The wedding lasted well into the wee hours of the morning, but who could expect any less from a party thrown by Caleb Brewster? Their friends had all come together from near and far to celebrate what had been a long time in the making, and it could not have gone more perfectly. By the time they finally made it to their hotel, there was hardly enough energy to do anything but crawl into bed, and Caleb was sure he’d fallen asleep before his head even touched the pillow.

When he awoke there was sunlight streaming in from the gaps in the curtain, but he wasn’t sure what time it was... And he supposed it didn’t really matter. Work couldn’t spare Ben for a ‘proper’ honeymoon until later in the year, but they’d managed to snag a long weekend at a fine hotel in New York City, and so they had a few days left entirely to themselves. As he lay there in bed, watching his husband (impossible!!) sleep so peacefully, Caleb was sure he could’ve happily spent the entire weekend doing nothing else.

After a few long moments he began to stir, and Caleb reached over to stroke his cheek. “Mornin’,” he said, smiling fondly as Ben’s beautiful eyes fluttered open. “Mr. Brewster.”

18th Century

When the war ended and people asked what they planned to do, the answers had been surprising - Well... Not from Caleb, really. He’d always been a wanderer, ever since he left Setauket as a teenager in search of adventure at sea, and so it was likely nobody had ever really expected he might settle down.

Ben, though - Ben was an educated man, with good prospects, an impressive military record and handsome to boot. He could’ve settled down and done well for himself in business and personally with very little effort... But, perhaps a few years so deeply embroiled in the war had left him needing something more exciting than what the life of a business and family man could offer him. That could serve to explain why he’d joined his old friend as they ventured west into the frontier, looking to join those who would seek to expand their new nation and conquer the wild, untamed land.

Their real reasons were much different.

They’d settled in a patch of clear land a short distance from the woods and nearly a half day’s ride from the next nearest settlement, but it was that kind of privacy they were looking for and it suited them just fine. The first spring they’d spent tilling the ground and planting, living out of a canvas tent as they had often during the war. Summer had been spent tending their fields and building a little cabin, and though there were some difficult times and scary moments, Caleb never regretted their choice... Not once. They lived off what they could fish, forage, and hunt until the first of their vegetables began to grow in, and once they’d traded for a few chickens and a pair of goats, they were in good shape!

Now fall was here, and the last of their harvests were on the horizon. Caleb could scarcely believe the luck they’d been blessed with. Their cellar was stocked with more than enough food to see them through the winter in comfort and health, and a few torrential summer rains in the late season had given him the confidence that their home (and the animals in their little pens!) would survive the winter weather just fine. They were in a good place, and Caleb couldn’t have been happier in his life.

Did the Lord really frown so much on what they had together, if He’d allowed them to settle so happily here? Caleb couldn’t believe that He did. It wasn’t conventional, but they were happy - Surely that counted for something. He did worry, though, that Ben missed what he could have had. They could never live in the settlement with the other people, only visit periodically for business and otherwise keep their distance, lest they be discovered. Though they would grow old together and hold each other until their dying days, though they shared their bed and their bodies wholly, Caleb knew he wasn’t a wife, not like Ben could have had. His belly would never swell with Ben’s child and there would never be more family than the two of them...

It troubled him sometimes, the feeling that he was taking something from Ben by being the way they were, but it made him all the more determined to give him what he could - And so when an idea came to him, he forged on with all he had.

Ben had set out to the town before the sun had even risen to see if he couldn’t make some good trades, and Caleb knew now was the time to act. They had so much to be grateful for, their first year had gone better than they could have hoped, and he’d been planning this for months. As soon as Ben and their horse disappeared down the trail, Caleb began to work. The day was spent cooking and then cleaning, and then as afternoon came, decorating. He swept and mopped the floors, washed their bedclothes and hung them to dry and then started cooking the nicest thing he knew... It was still a venison stew, which they ate a lot of, but he put all the best things he could in it! He also baked a loaf of bread (and then swept and mopped the floors again because of the flour). Once that was done, he collected all the flowers he could this late in the season and placed them nicely around their little house, and then scrubbed himself clean and trimmed his beard and dressed in the cleanest of his clothes, and settled in to wait for Ben’s return as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

[thatslayer]

(music note)

Send me ♫ and I’ll post a song I think fits our muses’ relationship

Bunkerverse: (New stuff) “When You’re Gone” by The Cranberries, “Wonderwall” by Oasis, “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure, “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane, (Old stuff) “To the Moon and Back” by Savage Garden, "Love You Madly" by Cake, “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer, “Here With Me” by Dido, “When You Say Nothing At All” by Allison Krauss, “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders & “Wire to Wire” by Razorlight

This is the End: “As the World Falls Down” by David Bowie

A Home at the End of the World: (You have to share these with Rc ;) ) “Luna” by Smashing Pumpkins, “It’s All Been Done Before” by Barenaked Ladies, “When I See You Smile” by Bad English, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, “Foolish Heart” by Journey, “Simultaneous Lovin” by Chef, I’m sure I’ll add to the list.

Frontierland/1840s: “I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls” and “Dark Eyes”

All that Glitters/1930s: “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by Bob Lawrence (I think this is the only verse post-Saith that I’ve ever been in. Heart hurts. 3)

[sharoma]

Archive BBS Communiques #2 Groombridge was also a surname within the game, found ironically on the bulletin board system (BBS) where people would post ads, looking for missing people or old friends. -and- The use of floppy disks was still prevalent in the early 2000s. Slammin Vinyl is still active. Is Mr. Robbins still there I wonder?

[unshaven-insane]

Send ➳ and I’ll generate a number between 1- 15 (lost the war frontier verse)

6. A drunken kiss

The last several months had been hard - The work was hard, and their hearts still ached, not knowing what had become of their friends… Though Caleb had intended to fight until he walked himself to the gallows, head held high, he still remembered Ben’s parting words to him clear as day -

“Take Anna and go. Make sure she’s safe. Make sure you’re both safe.”

He didn’t care about himself so much, but Annie… He’d die for Anna, just as he’d die for Ben, and if it meant not dying on a British rope and instead stealing across into the frontier with her, then so be it. And so they did, and here they found themselves, settled in their little self-made cabin out in the wilds of the frontier, a day’s ride from the nearest pitiful settlement.

They were lucky to have settled in the early spring, and so they were able to plant their crops with enough time to let them grow. Now, with winter approaching, they’d had a more than bountiful harvest and it would certainly last them through the harsh months to come.

As the last of their harvest was tucked away in the cellar, Caleb produced the nicest bottle of rum he had been saving (a well-hidden purchase from the last time he’d been in town, nearly a month previous) intent on splitting it with Anna. They deserved the reward, after all!

A few hours passed with drinking and singing and laughter, and it just seemed… Natural that, when she got close like that with her brown eyes shining, she should receive a kiss. Just a little one, mind, but Caleb withdrew from it with mirth shining in his own eyes.

“I can’t believe we’ve made it this far.”

[thatslayer]

♫♫♫♫♫♫

Send me ♫ and I’ll post a song I think fits our muses’ relationship

Bunkerverse: “You’re Not the Boss of Me” by The Vandals

This is the End: “What Were You Expecting” by Halestorm

Frontierland/1840s: “Give Me My Arrows and Give Me My Bow” because I think it fits them both, especially here lately.

All that Glitters/1930s: "Need A Little Sugar in My Bowl” by Bessie Smith (seriously)

[sharoma]

Frontierverse adverts from back in the day: 1) Unknown car ad (2008) 2) From Elite Tournament, an online space shoot 'em up by Cris Robson, aka Ol_Blue (2002): Why not have a snack at Frontierverse? Terrible food - dubious pilots - the EBBS And much more, all hosted by RobShaz Sadly the frontierverse.com domain and the EBBS are both defunct (though the latter can be accessed via NNTP).