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World War II Espionage RPG: Ashes of Isar

Published by Steve Williamson on March 23, 2023 Respond
Ashes of Isar, cover

In November, 2019, I began work on a new role-playing game based on World War II espionage. I had read Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton and was inspired to create a game based on the Allies effort to sabotage Nazi Germany’s war machine in general, and England’s Special Operations Executive specifically.

I’ve played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons in my day, first with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons created by Gary Gygax and sold by TSR, Inc. back in the early 1980s, and more recently with the 5th Edition rules by Wizards of the Coast, LLC. Other RPG’s I’ve played have been G.U.R.P.S. by Steve Jackson and several others. I wanted something that wasn’t as rules-heavy as D&D, yet still allowed players to take on characters of their choosing and fight bad guys.

I figured the genre and milieu of espionage during World War II, located in western Europe in particular, was a rich environment for role-playing action. The stakes were very high for spies during that time, with capture and execution a likely result of their brave actions. The rewards for successful missions, however, had an outsized positive impact on the war effort against the Axis powers.

I came up with a skills-based experience system that rewarded agents with improved abilities based on experience and training, just like in real life. This is in contrast to games like D&D where the entire character rises in level based on overall experience earned. I added an element of luck to the game as well to represent the way real life can sometimes go your way without any apparent cause, and can sometimes go the wrong way despite your best efforts.

After working on the game throughout the year, it has reached a point where I feel it was ready for release to the public. I have made it available using a license similar to the Open Game License used by Wizards of the Coast. In my case, I am making the rules and player’s guide available free of charge, and am selling missions for a small fee. Players can create their own missions and distribute them as long as they do so for free. I may create a marketplace down the road where players can sell their missions for a small commission.

Details about the game and various downloads can be found at my Ashes of Isar page.

I encourage you to download the rules for free as well as a beginner’s mission, Operation Virgin Snow, and try out the game with your friends (social distancing, of course). Let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, if you’re curious about the name, Germany’s River Isar is a special location in post-World War II history. When Nazi war criminals were caught, convicted and executed, they cremated several of them and spread their ashes in the River Isar to keep their followers from having a grave site or memorial to commemorate their evil. You can learn more here.

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Fantasy Adventure Ideas and Inspiration

Published by Steve Williamson on January 7, 2023

Sometimes Dungeon Masters need a little inspiration when creating one-shot sessions, or even multi-session campaigns. There are classic tropes and their variations that can be relied upon for ideas, they just need a new twist to make them interesting.

Other times you want something truly unique. Taking ideas from other sources and spinning them on their heads can help.

Here are some ideas to help spark your creativity. You can use these directly, modify them slightly to suit your tastes and the party’s situation, or make a 90 degree turn and go somewhere entirely new. It’s up to you!

Rescue! One of the most common and old-school themes in fantasy adventuring is the rescue. The king’s daughter has been captured by foul enemies. The party is hired to infiltrate the baddie’s lair, find the princess, and get her out alive.

Twist: One of the party’s own has been captured and their comrades must rescue them.

Exploration. Some ruins have been discovered and the party explores it, either for their own effort to seek treasure, or because they’ve been hired by a powerful NPC to survey and map the situation. The location is where your creativity can really shine; make it someplace unusual, such as a mysterious keep or monastery that appears overnight, or a large abandoned ship that has washed ashore.

Twist: The party must explore a location with a time limit, because a prophecy or some other clue indicates it will disappear at a particular time in the near future.

Escape. One of the most exciting, challenging — and common — adventure ideas entails the party finding themselves held captive without weapons or armor deep inside an unknown dungeon. They must escape their bounds, find their gear, and escape. The reason for their capture can be any number of things: they passed out at an inn and woke up in shackles (perhaps they were shanghaied and found themselves bound on board a pirate ship); they were infiltrating a Big Bad Evil Guy’s lair and were captured, etc.

Twist: An NPC in their party betrayed them and handed them over to the party’s enemy. Not only must they escape capture, but they also seek revenge against their betrayer.

Destruction of Evil. This may be the most common adventure trope yet, the destruction of an evil altar or temple. Don’t sell the idea short; it is used so often because of its versatility and applicability to the fantasy genre. The source of evil can have any number of variations, such a competing religious sect or a group of monsters that must be destroyed or driven out of an area. If it’s a place to be destroyed, it can be a variety of things, such as an altar, an entire temple, or a single artifact. The thing to be destroyed can, of course, be a person or particular monster.

Twist: For a longer, more challenging campaign, the evil can be a Thieves or Assassins guild that must be infiltrated from within. To put a spin on the more classic idea, the party must identify the source or location of evil first before they attempt to destroy it — or the source of evil keeps moving (a temple that magically changes location every week, etc.)

There be Dragons! Dragons are arguably the most iconic monster in fantasy adventure games. Ridding a village of a marauding dragon is a tried and true adventure hook. But don’t be afraid to throw some new angle on it. Perhaps the dragon is actually of good ilk but has been possessed by a demon. Does the party kill the dragon outright, or try to exorcise its evil host and saving the dragon’s life (who doesn’t want a grateful dragon on their side)? Sometimes the party must subdue or capture a dragon, but what if their intent is to retrieve dragon eggs or younglings without engaging the parent in combat (who would most likely wipe them out if confronted directly)?

Twist: In one campaign, my party emerged from a short adventure inside an evil temple to discover a green dragon and a black dragon of relatively equal strength fighting each other in the air above them. I allowed the party to take on the two dragons and role-play the battle. Once that dragon duel was resolved and only one dragon remained, the party then had to fight the wounded and weakened beast that remained (as their main characters). Another idea is for the party to discover a dragon in a compromising position, such as a wyrm in chains or weakened because of a prior battle. Another variation is for the party to meet an intelligent, speaking dragon and convince it to do something against its nature.

Gather Ye Weapons. Like the Marvel Universe story line, the party must gather a particular set of artifacts, each with its own set of challenges, to create a new weapon that is used to counter some Big Bad Evil. A complication you can add to this is some evil person or group is also seeking the artifacts, motivating the party to act quickly to get them first. The classic AD&D module, White Plume Mountain, is a great example of this adventure type.

Twist: The party must replace a heavily guarded item or weapon with a fake without being detected. Or, the party is hired by a powerful NPC to retrieve an item, but along the way they discover their benefactor intends to use the item for evil, so they find a way to thwart the NPC instead.

Out There Ideas

These ideas deviate dramatically from the common tropes and themes listed above. One of the best things about fantasy table-top role-playing games — or any genre, really — is the fun is limited only by your imagination. Sometimes it’s fun to let your imagination run wild.

Some of these ideas are straightforward, while others are truly ‘out there.’

Infection. The party has been infected by a curse that will turn them into vampires within a fixed number of days. They must retrieve a magic item or reagent used for a potion to effect a cure.

Post-Death. The party has been slain and they find themselves in the land of the dead. Magic works very differently, or not at all, and many other things are turned on their heads. They must achieve some goal in order to return themselves to the living.

The Circus. The party has been captured by a low-level demon and placed in a zoo or circus on one of the planes of the Abyss. They must escape and return to the prime material plane.

Run Away! By chance, the party finds themselves face to face with a group of monsters in the wilderness that is substantially more powerful than themselves. They must flee enemy territory and survive long enough to cross a border or land feature such as a river or mountain range without being killed or captured.

Another Body. Because of a freak magical accident, the party finds themselves inhabiting the bodies of hobgoblin soldiers in a war party’s camp preparing to attack a nearby keep. The party learns a powerful human cleric inside the keep has the ability to exorcise them and restore them to their original bodies. They must reach the cleric, explain their true identities, and convince the priest to help them before they all get killed in the attack.

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What type of D&D gamer are you?

Published by Steve Williamson on December 2, 2022

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons has been around since the late 1970s (with previous forerunning versions dating back to the early 70s). I began playing in the spring of 1980. In fact, the very first game I ever played was on a camping trip in May 1980, right as Mt. St. Helens was erupting just 60 miles to the north. I was playing a dwarven fighter with an axe, and there was an orc standing in my way.

Thinking back to the decades I’ve been playing the game, I’ve met a lot of wonderful people with whom I’ve had the joy of sharing a gaming table. Over time, I’ve recognized there can be certain characteristics common among some players, so I am making a lighthearted and humorous attempt at describing them.

What type of D&D gamer are you?

The Highlander

“There can be only one!” Stuck on a particular version of D&D (1e, 2nd edition, 5e, etc.) and absolutely refuses to play any other edition. Probably more common with earlier editions than newer ones.

The Grognard

It’s gotta be old school 1st edition or nothing at all. A variation of The Highlander in that they are particular to just one edition, but that edition must be old. There’s a 99% chance the Grognard is a middle-aged white guy with a beard who first played D&D in middle school somewhere between 1978 and 1981.

The Collector

They’re more about the stuff than the game, and have rows and rows of sagging bookshelves to prove it. If it exists, it is their quest to possess it. They’ll own three different copies of The Village of Hommlet, at least two of which are in plastic, but have never actually run the module as a DM or played it as a player.

The Pan-gamer

They’ll play any RPG regardless of brand, genre, or style. They approach The Collector status in that they’ll be the first to purchase core rule books for every game that comes out the day it hits the market, but unlike a Collector, for them it’s more about the acquisition than the possession (once they get it, they move onto the next squirrel, I mean game, that comes out).

The Poser

They talk about gaming and are quick to refer to themselves as a gamer in their copious posts to social media. They wear all the coolest branded t-shirts and hoodies and have lots of pristine-looking D&D merch stylishly placed and overtly visible on the LED-lit shelving behind them in their numerous YouTube videos. But could they tell you the difference between a 1st edition and 5th edition dragon? Not if their life depended on it.

The Funkmaster

They love the game, every book and folio they own is legitimately and genuinely dog-eared and worn down, their dice have been rolled more times than Jenna Jameson, and they can quote rules and stats and game errata like a walking encyclopedia, but the one thing they possess more than anything else is body odor that would give a starving gnoll the dry heaves.

There are no doubt other gamer types, and some folks are blends of several. Over all, despite these tongue-in-cheek and well-meaning classifications, D&D gamers can be some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, some of whom can become life-long friends.

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The Traveling Muse

Published by Steve Williamson on June 24, 2022

Solo motorcycle travel has been a part of my life since 2007. I began writing my first fantasy novel in 2011-ish and published it in 2013. (I’ve been writing fiction since I was in junior high school.) The overlap of these two activities is not coincidental. Travel, especially solo, has always been an inspirational activity to me, even as a kid.

Seeing new scenery, from the topography and way the land flows up and down and along rivers and shorelines, to the flora of an area be it sparse and blanched or lush and green, to even the weather as it changes as you crest a hill or as the sun rises or sets, has been a constant source of creative thoughts and ideas.

I can look at a wooded hillside and imagine a troupe of orcs living in a cave amidst the trees, or I can see in my mind’s eye a dragon perched atop a rocky vista surveying its hunting grounds. Hiking trails inspire thoughts of a fierce battle to the death between a man and the beast that pounced upon him from behind a tree.

If you read my books, you may notice that weather and terrain get a little extra descriptive boost amidst the text. The lay of the land and the foliage as well as the skies above are almost another character unto themselves, playing out their impact on the activities — or even survival — of my characters.

It’s surprising that when I travel and meet new people, they have a minimal impact on my creative muse. Sometimes I’ll hear a line of dialogue between people sitting near me in a small town cafe, or I’ll catch a glimpse of someone’s face as they struggle through a personal trial or endeavor. Or occasionally a stranger-that-becomes-a-friend lends inspiration in the unusual spelling of their name.

People rarely inspire me, though, but the places I go and see when I travel never fail to juice my muse to new heights.

Take a look at this photo of an abandoned church I took during a recent road trip. What does it inspire in you? Who utilizes that structure in your creative mind? What role does it play in your story’s possible evolution?

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Motorcycle Trip Journals

Published by Steve Williamson on February 6, 2022
Motorcycle trip journals
Motorcycle trip journals

There’s a saying that if you didn’t write it down, it didn’t happen. I think that maxim was created by astronomers, but it’s likely someone came up with the idea long before scientists started looking at the stars.

In my case, I began carrying a journal on my first motorcycle trip back in February 2007. I took it along on a solo weekend trip to visit my sister. The inspiration for journaling my motorcycle adventures came from reading Neil Peart’s autobiography, Ghost Rider.

It’s amazing how much comes back to me when reading over my old journal entries. I can recall the scenery, people I met, places I ate, things I saw, even smells. Sometimes I can even recall the song I was listening to in my earphones as I went around a particular curve on a specific trip.

I no longer own a motorcycle and have stopped riding as a result. Although I don’t regret getting out of motorcycling, I still miss it. I get a lot of enjoyment thinking of the memories of the many roads I’ve traveled and adventures I survived.

Motorcycling isn’t for everyone, but many people enjoy various forms of travel, whether it be on foot along a local hiking trail, or via jet plane or sailing vessel to distant lands across continents or oceans. I suggest to those who do like to travel to get into the habit of journaling their adventures. A handwritten notebook is subjectively ideal. Don’t rely on just the photos you take with a cell phone. Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but a few hundred — or even a few dozen — words can convey far more than a photo viewed out of context at a later date ever could.

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Zwift and Indoor Cycling

Published by Steve Williamson on November 2, 2021

During the winter months, it’s unpleasant to ride my bicycle outdoors. 38 degrees and raining is non-fun, despite having outdoor cycling gear. To maintain the fitness gains I’ve made over the summer, I recently set up a Wahoo KICKR Core smart trainer and a Zwift account. This allows me to ride my own bike (Trek Domane AL 5), which has been custom fitted to me, in the comfort of my own home and out of the weather.

Zwifting with Wahoo KICKR Core
Zwifting with Wahoo KICKR Core, Domane AL 5 (attached); Domane AL 4 (wall rack)

I used to have a spin bike but sold that on craigslist. It worked, but wasn’t fitted, wasn’t very adjustable, and was just an unpleasant experience.

This new system is very slick and seems to efficiently mimic the workout I get riding outside with some added benefits. It is more intense than the Springwater Trail (an old railroad grade converted into a paved walking and cycling path) but not quite as intense as the local hills (everywhere you go in my town is uphill both ways).

The system works like this:

  1. Remove your back wheel and place the frame on the Wahoo KICKR Core, draping the chain over the sprocket cassette (sold separately).
  2. Load the Zwift app on a laptop and connect it to a TV for larger viewing.
  3. Turn on a fan, select a route, and start pedaling.

The Wahoo dynamically changes the resistance based on the simulated riding conditions in Zwift. If I’m climbing up a hill in Zwift’s virtual world, the Wahoo is harder to pedal. Going downhill, it gets easier … you get the point. Since I’m using my own bike, the ergonomics is 100% fitted to my body and parameters.

When starting Zwift, you can choose which route you want to ride. These give you a huge variety of challenge levels, based on distance and elevation change. Once the ride starts, you can dynamically choose to take different routes as you pedal along. It’s very slick.

Many other people from around the world are pedaling in your virtual Zwift world (called ‘Watopia’) with you. I have found that I am pedaling harder because of a weird sense of competition and of being watched. If someone is pedaling behind me, Zwift tells me how many meters and seconds they are trailing behind. I can see that gap close, and it makes me want to ride faster — I don’t want someone passing me.

Apparently you can organize group rides with friends and ride together within Watopia.

I like this competitive aspect of Zwift and feel that I am getting a better cycling workout because of it. I also like the route variety, as it sends me up and down hills that I don’t experience when riding the trail. That variety keeps it from getting boring, too.

The hills near my home are somewhat brutal. They aren’t overly long but they are very steep, some well above 10% grade, and there is no shoulder. In Zwift, I’m not going to get sent to the ICU by a soccer mom checking her Facebook status on her smart phone as she plows into me at 45 mph. That’s a huge benefit.

The downside?

None, if you own one bike or all your bikes use the same speed rear cassette. But, my wife has a bike, too (Domane AL 4), and unfortunately the rear cassette on her bike (10 speed) is different than mine (11 speed). This means every time one of us wants to ride on Zwift, we have to change sprocket cassettes on the Wahoo. This is not a quick process. It takes about 8-10 minutes to do a full swap out (remove one cassette and install another). Once the correct cassette is on the Wahoo, it only takes about 60 seconds to mount the bike and cinch it down (we already have the back wheels removed and set aside).

Granted, this takes less time than to put the rack on the back of our car, mount the bikes to the rack, and drive to the trailhead for an outdoor ride.

When we asked the bike shop people what they recommended to overcome this hassle, they all said, “Get a second Wahoo.”

We were able to purchase our Wahoo KICKR Core at our local Trek bike shop ($899) and the two sprocket cassettes, one for each bike. Those kind of components are in short supply right now, however, so you may have to shop around and get one on the internet. Zwift costs $14.99 per month per person.

And, of course, you need a decent laptop. I tried to run Zwift on a 2015 Macbook Air with an i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM. Nope. I had to use my 2016 Macbook Pro with an i7 and 16 GB of RAM (you can use Windows if that’s your thing). Oh, and you need a stand of some kind for the laptop to put it within reach as you pedal. I got one that looks similar to a music stand from Amazon for about $35.

Oh, and don’t forget a powerful fan. You’ll sweat. A lot.

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Time Keeps On Slippin’ Slippin’

Published by Steve Williamson on October 14, 2021

Do you have Steve Miller stuck in your head now? Sorry.

I look at the calendar and see that it’s October 14th and feel blown away by how quickly the last two months have gone by. I think September only had 17 days in it.

Since August I have spent most afternoons practicing guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. I’m learning all four instruments with the goal of writing music inspired by my first novel, Ohlen’s Arrow. That is going well but except for savants, learning to play and compose music is not an overnight endeavor. I’ve played all these instruments in the past, so fortunately I’m not starting from ground zero, but I still have a long way to go.

I’ve also been thinking about continuing my Taesia series of novels. The next step would be to write book 5. I already have the bulk of the plot figured out, but haven’t formally nailed down the outline. An avid reader of mine recently shared their view that I really need to keep writing and continue the story. We’ll see.

Currently I’m reading Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy. Although it’s a real page turner, I’m struck by how expository Clancy is. The old maxim, “Show me, don’t tell me” is one Clancy apparently never heard. Unlike popular belief, rules are not made to be broken but you certainly can if you know about them and have a good reason. In Clancy’s case, this book wouldn’t work without all the ‘tell me’ expository text.

In the cycling part of my life, I recently purchased a Wahoo KICKR Core smart trainer. I previously had a traditional spin bike but sold it as it was uncomfortable and had very poor ergonomics. The smart trainer will be hooked up to Zwift for a virtual riding experience. I may write a review after I’ve used it a bit. It will be nice to train on my own bike (Trek Domane AL5) rather than a rigid and poor substitution like a spin bike.

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The Sound of Music

Published by Steve Williamson on August 20, 2021

Ever since I was a little kid and saw Animal on The Muppet Show, I’ve wanted to play drums. I tried to get a slot as a drummer in school band when I was in grade school and middle school, but we already had two drummers on the squad and the band teacher insisted I play trombone instead.

Jump ahead to my late 20s and early 30s. I bought an inexpensive electronic kit (Roland TD-7) and messed around with recording a few songs on my PC. I even played drums in a Creed cover band in 2001. It was fun to experiment with the drums as well as electric guitar, another instrument I’ve dabbled in since my 20s. For a while I had an Alesis QS6 synthesizer and used that in my recording.

I eventually sold the TD-7 and upgraded to an acoustic drum set — I’d use that to wake up the neighbors every afternoon. For personal reasons (divorce), I got rid of all my music gear in 2014.

Jump ahead to today (August 2021). The music bug is back in my brain (it never left, it’s just been suppressed) so I sold my motorcycle and used the money to get a new suite of gear. I’ve reconfigured my home office to be a combination work area and music studio.

So far my gear includes:

  • Alesis Strike Pro SE electronic drum set
  • Epiphone Les Paul Vintage Edition electric guitar
  • Ibanez Gio GSR200PW bass guitar
  • Luna Henna Oasis acoustic-electric guitar
  • M-Audio Oxygen 61 MKV MIDI keyboard controller
  • Alesis Strike Pro SE
    Alesis Strike Pro SE electronic drum kit
  • Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition
    Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition
  • Ibanez Gio GSR200PW bass guitar
    Ibanez Gio GSR200PW bass guitar
  • M-Audio Oxygen 61 MKV
    M-Audio Oxygen 61 MKV
  • PreSonus AudioBox 2x2 USB audio interface
    PreSonus AudioBox 2×2 USB audio interface
  • DigiTech BP355 bass effects pedal
    DigiTech BP355 bass effects pedal
  • DigiTech RP360 guitar effects pedal
    DigiTech RP360 guitar effects pedal
  • Mackie 1202 VLZ3 analog mixer
    Mackie 1202 VLZ3 analog mixer
  • Luna Henna Oasis acoustic-electric guitar
    Luna Henna Oasis acoustic-electric guitar
My gear — so far

All of this is connected to a Macbook Pro running GarageBand via a Presonus Audiobox 2×2 USB96 audio interface. I use a Mackie 1202 VLZ3 mixer to connect the instruments in one place (the guitars are connected to Digitech multi-effects pedals).

Although I’ve played guitar, drums and keyboards in the past, I’m very rusty so I’m spending the next few months building up my basic skills and competencies. I also intend to study music theory and may even learn to read music.

My long-term goal is to compose a series of songs that are inspired by my first novel, Ohlen’s Arrow. The finished works would function like a soundtrack to my book. We’ll see how that goes.

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No longer a motorcyclist?

Published by Steve Williamson on August 14, 2021

I just sold my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650. This means I no longer own a motorcycle. Does that mean I am no longer a motorcyclist?

2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650, “The Grey Mule”

I don’t think so. Motorcycling has been a part of my adult life since late 2006, and I’ve ridden all over the west coast of the United States and Canada. Some of my life’s fondest memories are of times spent on two wheels. That will always be a part of me.

The fact that I don’t currently have a motorcycle doesn’t mean I’m not still a motorcyclist. It’s in my blood in many ways, and definitely in my mind.

You may be wondering why I sold my bike, “The Grey Mule.” It’s a bit of a long story, but ultimately it came down to a shift in priorities. I am moving back into music and composing, which isn’t an inexpensive hobby, and I needed a way to pay for it. I also needed to shift some things around in my home to make room, and by freeing up space in the garage, it freed up space within the house for my new gear.

Stay tuned for the new musical chapter of my life.

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Day Ride to Kinzua, Oregon

Published by Steve Williamson on June 20, 2021

I took a day ride on my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650 to Kinzua, Oregon (pronounced ‘kin-zoo’). Kinzua is an abandoned lumber community southeast of Fossil, Oregon. I used to hunt deer in the area with my father back in the early 1980s and wanted to go back to the area and explore around.

My intention was to ride the Kinzua Road (NF21) east from highway 19 to where it connects to highway 207. The maps and online resources said it connected and was open, and even the gas station attendant in Fossil said it was likely open. I rode east on NF21 to the location of where the community and mill site of Kinzua used to be, and spotted a small sign on the side of the road saying that access to hwy. 207 was unavailable.

No access sign, Kinzua, OR
No access to highway 207 from Kinzua, NF21, Wheeler County

I turned around and backtracked the 8 miles to highway 19, then headed south a few miles to have lunch at the Bear Hollow county campground (Wheeler County). The park was deserted, so I had it all to myself. After getting filled up with a lunch of dehydrated “breakfast skillet”, I backtracked my way westward to home.

Bear Hollow CG, Wheeler County
Bear Hollow CG, Wheeler County, on hwy 19 south of Fossil, Oregon

Just west of Shaniko and riding northwest along Bakeoven Road, I noticed wildfire smoke in the distance to the west. I had just ridden from that direction that morning, and although I could smell a bit of wildfire smoke when passing through Maupin, I only saw a bit of smoke haze to the south, near Warm Springs. This fire was new since I had just passed that way a few hours before.

As I approached along highway 216 toward the community of Pine Grove, I could see that the fire was burning very close to the road. There were no roadblocks and I there were cars coming from the west, so I assumed the road itself was still open.

S-503 fire, Oregon
S-503 fire, along highway 216 approaching Pine Grove, Sat. June 19, 2021

Just west of Pine Grove, I stopped to get a photo and some video of the fire. I couldn’t see the flames but could see how they colored the smoke a deep orange. The fire seemed to be burning about a half-mile from the highway. I continued westward uninhibited and made it home after riding 360 miles for the day.

The news labeled it the S-503 fire, and said it had ignited Friday night. It had burned 4,000 acres as of this writing and was only 2% contained. The fire incident map shows it burning to the southeast into the Warm Springs Reservation. The town of Pine Grove is on a level 3 evacuation alert. If the wind shifts and blows to the northeast, that small community would be in its direct path.

S-503 fire, south of highway 216, June 19, 2021
S-503 fire, burning a mile south of highway 216
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