SAC/ROS ED Games

Captain Monpierre’s “Little Red Book”

Obtained on September 18th, 973

Narrator’s note. Wolfgang Spicebeard persuaded Etienne and Aurelise to part with what they swore was Captain Monpierre’s fabled Red Ledger. Alas, it proved instead to be a modest red pocket-book—less a tome of military genius than a place where Monpierre scrawled reminders, doodles, and the occasional cipher to pass the time.

Worse still, the little volume has suffered indignities of every sort. Pages are scribbled over, blotted out, or violently crossed through; others are warped by tea, mildew, and neglect, or singed at the edges as though left too close to a candle. Only scattered fragments remain legible, half-useful, or merely peculiar. What follows are those few survivors.

Year 970, November 22nd — “Practice Cipher”

ZITJXOEAWKGVFYGBPXDHLGCTKZITSQMNRGU

With a bit of time (and the experience you’ve gained over the past few weeks!), you work this out as,

PLAIN : ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
CIPHER: QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

Margin, smaller script: “Too easy even with the spaces removed. Try nulls next time. Or invisible ink made from onions.”

Year 971, March 3rd — “Provisions”

  • Bread (black; stale acceptable)
  • Onions (firm; not perfumed)
  • Vinegar (cheap; no aromatics)
  • Quills (12), sand, wax (red)
  • Candles (uneven heights), soap (unscented)

Margin: “Etienne owes 3 crowns. Remind him. Again.”

Year 971, June 18th — “Manual Drafts”

“SUMABC draft nearly complete. Scarn wants sterner metaphors; Nelson asks for clarity (we shall compromise with footnotes). Distribution question unresolved: regimental officers only, or staff colleges? Recommend restricted circulation — sealed, logged, retrieved.”

“Test exercise: infantry held, cavalry did not. Again. Wizards refused to commit without countermeasures for counter-morale. Must revise ‘pause doctrine’ examples.”

Margin, small: “Title of Standardized Use of Magic in Archean Battlefield Contexts remains contentious. Many are called it the “Red Ledger” instead – loses the clarity of the original title. Keep acronym as a compromise?”

Year 971, September 22nd — “Figure: Pelican”

A full-page pen sketch of a pelican, annotated with arrows (“capacity,” “retained payload,” “throat as reservoir”).

Year 972, January 15th — “Exercise ‘Paper Bridge’ (notes)”

  1. Objective: move supplies across town without alerting observers.
  2. Method: silence spells + decoys (pigeons, loud carts).
  3. Result: pigeons ate the decoy messages; loud carts attracted children → observers multiplied.
  4. Lesson: silence spells work until the decoys attract attention.

Margin: “Next time: boring decoys.”

Year 972, April 18th — “Loose reports crossing the desk”

  • “Name ‘Ebon Blades’ overheard in tavern near West Post. No details. Not thieves — too quiet.”
  • “River traffic: Devonese barges at odd hours. Contraband? Flag for Section 318.”
  • “Council re-argues salt tax (again). Officers expect unrest; nobility expects nothing more than dinner.”

Margin: “If real, Blades will avoid slogans. Look for silence where noise should be.”

Year 972, June 3rd — “On circulation & custody”

“If the manual is widely read, it will be widely misunderstood. If narrowly read, it will be resented. Compromise: controlled access; signed out, signed back; always retrieved. No excerpts without context. No copying (they will try).”

Margin: “Title set in red. Plain covers. Onion-skin acceptable (lightweight).”

Undated — “Hand practice”

Year 972 – Sergeant Chakrati’s Recipe for Onion Soup

Ingredients

  • 6 large Moon-Onions of Soncrates, prized for making bureaucrats weep uncontrollably
  • 4 tbsp Butter of Eternal Churn, said to have been worked by ghostly dairymaids since the Righteous War
  • 2 tbsp Oil of Lucarre Olives, pressed during damp festivals
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cloves Garlic of the Secret Moon
  • 8 cups Stock of Minotaur Bones, simmered lightly
  • ½ cup dry white wine (or Crown Princess Alexis’s Favorite Vin Gris, smuggled at great peril)
  • 1 Bay Leaf From Kobold Gardens
  • ½ tsp Thyme of Lost Scribes, said to grow only near abandoned quill factories
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 baguette
  • 2 cups grated Dragon’s Gruyère, aged in caves and occasionally singed

Instructions

  1. Caramelize the onions:
    • Slice the onions thinly. In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter with olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onions, sugar, and salt.
    • Cook slowly (35–45 minutes), stirring often, until onions turn a deep golden brown.
  2. Build flavor:
    • Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
    • Stir in wine to deglaze, scraping up the browned bits (or “lunar residue”) from the pot.
  3. Simmer:
    • Add stock, bay leaf, thyme. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
  4. Prepare bread:
    • Slice baguette, toast until crisp.
  5. Assemble:
    • Ladle soup into flame-resistant bowls. Top with bread slices, cover generously with cheese.
    • Broil until cheese bubbles and browns.
  6. Serve:
    • Present reverently, as though handing over a religious relic
    • Optional garnish: a sprig of thyme (or a bureaucratic stamp of approval).

Final Leaf — “A proverb and a stain”

Narrator’s note: The remaining pages are blank or too damaged to read.

Provenance: recovered from the Monpierre apartment; passed hand-to-hand; authenticity argued and largely unverifiable.