The Widow's Nest - Episode 0 - 7th Sea

8/20/2017
The Widow's Nest

Episode Zero
"Hello Greg"

7th Sea

The bartender slams down four drinks on the table as rain is pouring outside. The group is at the Widow's Nest, a small island with a town on it southwest of Montaigne, primarily for piracy. Having just landed, the four sit at the bar and share their stories of the recent events that transpired. There is no one else in the bar, save for the bartender, Greg.  The group is exhausted from an encounter with Delacruz, a ship captain.

The group has a brigantine ship named Sophie, one owned by Teofel Lucja, the Sarmatian Zynys who is skilled with dueling. Gabriella, the Strega, downs the drink in one gulp. Alberto McEntyre gasps, musing he just has fallen in love with Gabriella.  Teofel asks for more drinks as Greg asks them what happened.  Agosto Baltasar Carlos Domingo y Esteban remains silent at first.

Teofel shares they barely just escaped from an attack. Alberto counters at the idea that they barely escaped. Greg notices Teofel is the only one with a hat and assumes he is the captain given his "pirate-y" hat. Agosto finally speaks up, saying the "woman" speaks the truth since the rest of them were not having trouble. He shares they had a long day waiting for the ship they hoped to target. But "someone" had failed to make sure the ship was not fully armed. They argue about the fully armed ship and lost most of their other men. Only the four of them and a few other able seamen are left. They ask why the bartender is so interested in them, and the bartender shows there's no one else in the place. Agosto rattles question after question at the bartender, and finds joy in how the man finds the questions confusing. Agosto explains he calls Alberto a "woman" and Gabriella a "man" because Alberto complains a lot and Gabriella can take care of herself. Both Alberto and Gabriella glare at the man for his blatant sexism, unawares of his former history as a priest... and an Inquisitor.

When Greg hears the ship they attacked happened to be an Atabean Trading Company ship. He asks what sort of cargo it carried and this draws Gabriella and Teofel's curiosity on why the bartender would be so interested. The group is still getting used to working as a unit especially since Alberto joined the crew in hopes of inspiring the others to start acting more like honest men than pirates. As the group talks, Agosto stands up and heads for the kitchen. Greg hurries after him!

In the kitchen, Agosto uses his alchemical skills to "fix" the beer Greg has been serving to become something far more palatable. Greg begs to be given the secret formulae and Agosto asks Teofel to make a deal with the man. "The place as a freeport for their operations, and in exchange the beers will stay as lovely as that." Greg insists the bar is a good place and the only reason there are no customers is due to the rain.  Teofel quietly calls for the rain stops, "What rain?" Greg imagines the room being more active and agrees to the deal.

Time stops. The dievas talks to Teofel, unhappy that he's making deals without consulting it first. It admits it needs Teofel alive, but it would prefer he considers its choice on the matter first. "I have such good plans for you," it grins and time starts once more.

When Greg asks about the cargo again, Gabriella reminds him she doesn't like his interest in the cargo. She warns him she can "read" him and Agosto even warns she is, unlike most Voddacce women, actually able to read. Gabriella ignores the backhanded compliment. The bar is the Salty Pig. They were about to get the cargo but Alberto forced Gabriella and Agosto to the side, dropping the cargo into the sea. Alberto, however, insists they shouldn't have attacked the ship. Gabriella questions why they chose to let him join them. Agosto shares how his former faith used to speak of how people are given a role in life and should just choose to accept it. But now he believes in the need for people to choose what they want. He wonders if Alberto sees them as a mission. Alberto insists he will be helping in his own way, but he cannot go against his tenets as a Glamour Knight.  Greg serves them more drinks, with Gabriella asks for three drinks all for herself.

Outside, a heavy knock announces the arrival of the Atabean Trading Company as a Captain Delacruz arrives to drink at the bar.  The same man they had just pirated.  On the same island. Agosto tells Greg to let them in and has them leave the weapons at the table close to the door. When the Captain's men insist the Captain never leaves his weapons, Agosto steps out to talk to them, shows his Vaticine Church symbol and claims as a priest he must insist they leave their weapons.  The Captain wonders why Agosto looks familiar, he laughs that all Castillian's look like and quickly turns away.

A lean man enters with a tri-corn hat, with one hand on his waist. Delacruz. The same man indeed. While Augusto tries to distract the man and show them to a room to drink, the others attempt to dispatch Delacruz' men and deprive them of their weapons. It takes Gabriella's beauty and Sorte to disable Delacruz and when the fight reaches the outside of the ship, the group opts to storm Delacruz' vessel for the "treasure" they have on board.

The treasure, they discover, is a young figure chained in the brig. With the figure, as it turns out, is a dog.

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep07 : A Red and Pleasant Land

10/01/2016
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Seven

"There Will Be Cake"

A Red and Pleasant Land

Days and nights quickly pass. Vera feels attuned to the passing of time. A green pig mumrat, lots of dwarfs, non-vampires, humans, animals they visit and come seeking permission, seeking roles.  Vidar ponders on the metals not being right.  The two argue about the need to find their way home, with Vera insistent that she would do whatever was necessary to send their daughter home.  She still believes all will be going according to her plans.

Ilya learns about life in this strange new world.  She learns of the hunt/market and understands the way things are managed here.  The kids form a cohesive unit in hunting.  They talk about early emergence from the well and about hiding and how to do it properly.  

Jacque arrives and this time, perhaps for the first time, the others begin to notice her resemblance to Ilya.  Jacque admits that the Heart Queen cannot die.  That the Red King supports them in their plans.  To prove his favor, a book of magic is offered, including the diamond dust needed to cast the Teleport spell.  Vera tasks Vidar to have a mirror made, with the help of five laborers.  Mava visits Ilya and tries to get the needed workers.  She visits Vera for the log book and the two talk about the usefulness of each member of the court.  Vera warns Mava of her role in things here, which leads to her walking out.  Vera then calls for the priest, and shares with him the information on the book and the dust.  He asks for the skull but she admits it is not with her.  It is with the girls.  "Trust them."  Becomes the theme of the conversation.  Vera even recommends to the priest to find dust so Mava can be the target of the Teleport spell as well.

Mava meets up with Ace.  Their discussion, originally to find workers, shifts when the father arrives and asks for the skull.  The father wants to resolve his promise and get it out of th eway.  Mava runs to Ilya, however, before the priest can get to her.  They find the kids hopscotching about.  He talks to them about the skull and during their discussion a ten-year old Hatta joins the conversation.  Night quickly comes as the group discuss the Head and soon learn that Hatta is actually present on behalf of the Pale King.

Father Geoff meets with the King Vidar while Lyle works on the metal.  Vera studies the spell and learns of the way the Mirror Universe works.  She learns she can bring someone back to the Quiet Side, the term for the place she was from, but only if someone else remains in front of the mirror the whole time while the spell is cast.  Reflections of each other.  If the person leaves, the other would be pulled back from the Quiet place.  Worse, she realizes she cannot be that anchor.  It has to be someone else.

Vidar demands for glass blowers and approves the use of silver in the mirror.  Vera and Geoff plan regarding the Head.  Both realize there is more important things to map out than originally discussed. Using a spell, she creates a facsimile of the Skull which is then handed back like the real thing.

The Tea Party begins.  By then, Vidar's mirror is complete.  Ilya is cuddling with the animals while Mava dresses fancy for the first time in her entire life.  Monochrome people arrive with black text emerging from their pale bodies.  Behold the King, the statements say.  The Pale King has arrived. The carriage, led by two horses, comes to a stop and a dwarf comes out.  Vera notes how the Pale King resembled Vidar, though no one else seems to see it.  Hatta introduces the Pale King to Vera and Vidar, and Vera makes sure to seat him by the Mirror.    When she sees Geoff, she inquires if he's prepared the dust.  Sadly, he does not have any.

A pond appears.  Out of the water on the ground, a colorless pawn emerges.  Geoff sets the body of the queen, still encased in glass, beside the Pale King.  Knights in black armor with colorless faces emerge from the water.  Nivia, the Colorless Queen arrives. Vera motions to Geoff to occupy the guests.  He begins to act as a host.  Vera worries about the matches she needs to use in the Mirror Universe spell.

She assigns the Fool (Mava) to delay the events by giving a show.  Clubs arrive.  Diamonds (Courtiers).  Hearts (Children).  The Heart Queen then arrives, Elizabeth Bathyscape herself, as does the Unicorn.  Ilya is able to approach it and offers it cake.  The two seem to be at home with each other's presence.  But when the Lion sees the Unicorn, things go crazier.  The Lion attacks!  Mava takes the moment of distraction to act too and tries to decapitate the Heart Queen, but despite her best efforts, the Heart Queen merely shrugs off the attack as if it barely hurt her!

The Colorless Queen turns into mist.  The Pale King transforms into Water.  The whole even exasperates Ilya, which shunts everything forward in the time table as the Mirror Universe spell is cast!  Mava stands close to the mirror, fighting against the Heart Queen.  Vidar feels an odd feeling on the mirror and drags Vera to it.  Vidar touches it and feels he can pass through. Vera, however, cannot.    Geoff tries to force the Heart Queen back, calling upon his faith, but it does not work. The Heart Queen transforms into a wolf and attempts to bite Mava.  Vera hurls the fake skull at the Heart Queen, hoping to distract her.  As the Heart Queen reaches for the skull, Vera casts Web upon her to trap her with the mass of other animals running about.  Geoff reminds Mava to "Be Strong" and his faith becomes a spell of Heroism upon her.  Ilya tries to touch the mirror even as the Qeen kills a few of the dwarf vampires.

Vidar topples out of a box, and finds a broken mirror in shards.  Only the mirror frame remains on the wall.  The walls, however familiar, do not match the rest of the walls of the chamber.  He looks around and discovers it is night and there are no servants.  Vidar, at the other side, sees Nicolai the Butler, who fires at him with a pistol.  Vidar closes the gap and with his axe, cleaves through the butler into two.

Vera insults the Heart Queen to lure her towards the mirror.  Ilya plunges the skull into the water and she finds skeletal fingers reaching for it to pull it in.  She realizes it was a bad idea and begins to tug back against the bones, in a tug of war for the Colorless Queen's head.  Geoff and Vera face the Heart Queen, who pins Vera against the Mirror .  Geoff calls for his faith and it emerges as light wounds upon Vera, which sadly, ends up healing her.   The Heart Queen bites Vera, and in response, Vera plants her hands on the Heart Queen's face and casts Continual Light on her eyes.  Geoff pulls Vera back and heals her with another healing prayer.

Ilya tells the Colorless Queen to "deal with the Heart Queen or things will become unpleasant for you."  Mava attempt to launch an attack but instead slips on the water.  The Colorless Queen casts a spell on Ila in response, "Avadakevadra!" 

Vidar storms the hallways, and notices there are portraits of Nikolai all over.  The servants hurry back upon seeing him.  Vidar roars, reminding them all that this is his castle.   He attacks the servants. Vidar starts yelling at the remaining servants to leave.

Ilya tries to pull the skull free.  Father Geoff calls for Sanctuary and casts it upon Vera. Vera tries to shove the Heart Queen through the mirror, but she resists with her own magic.  Vera realizes her magic is equal to the Heart Queen's so she tips the edge by trusting in the father's magic instead.  The divine sanctuary forces the Heart Queen to fall through the mirror.  But then, Vera begins to vanish, evaporating just as the Heart Queen does so! Ilya learns from Jacque of Vera's plans and sees her own mother disappear.

Vera finds herself trapped, held by something she cannot see.  She screams calling for help and somehow, Vidar can hear her muffled voice.  He begins to attack the wall and inside of it, he uncovers Vera chained to the wall.  Vera, now freed, tries to repair the broken mirror but it seems impossible.  She screams for her daughter.

The party goes worse when a grand monstrosity emerges, the Jabberwocky!   It charges after the others as it appears.  With everyone running away in a panic, Ilya exasperates once more and somehow charms the creature!  It tells her the two ways she can return to the Quiet place: Eaten by the Jabberwocky or by killing the Countess.  With the animals gone, Ilya finds herself becoming the mistress of the monster.  She has become the Queen.

A voice tells Vera she needs to go back.  Vidar sets the mirror pieces down and Vera tries to cast a spell to send Vidar through.  Vera wants to let the daughter find a way back.

Ilya chooses and she shatter the Jabberwocky's heart.  The Dream shatters as Vidar goes through the cracks and the dream comes to an end.  Mava sees the head matching her.  Father Geoff holds Mava and one by one they begin to awaken from the dream back in the Quiet Place.

Mava awakes at her old room at the Church.  The place is a warehouse now.

Ilya wakes up in her own room, which looks closed and never used.

Vera hears the voices fade.  Light fades around her.  She stares at the glass waiting for Vidar to return, but he does not.  She waits, though.  Waits and waits.  And Ilya never gets her to leave the side of the mirror again.

Father Geoff awakes in a room.  He finds a candelabra and lights it.  The room is not familiar.  He looks around the large chamber and finds a woman in a night gown in the room.  The woman reveals her fangs.  The welcome him back.

Vidar feels dragged by two knights in red.  Mirrors are all around.  He tries to break free but they pull him away to a throne room.  There, the gathered address him as an intruder.  On the throne, Vidar looks up and sees the old father Geoff, dressed in red.  The priest addresses him as being in the Red Keep and welcomes him to his new home.

***

And with that, our game ended.   Thank you BJ Recio for the nightmarish game filled with wonder and fear.  Thank you to Adrian, Gia, Fabs, Mia and Rocky for playing in the game with me. It is not often I get to be a player, and I will admit I had fun embracing my "Missy" role more than I thought.  The setting book is fantastic, and I do foresee taking my own stab at running this setting someday perhaps using a different system set.

Party of One plays A Single Moment!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by GM Jeff Stormer of Party of One (@PartyOfOnePod) to try playing A Single Moment on his podcast which focuses on two player games.  I will admit, I have never played live on a podcast before so this was a nerve-wracking moment for me!  (And yes, you can actually catch it in my voice.)

The session ran for a single hour, although there were some interruptions which were kindly edited out (as I had to order dinner for me and my partner).  I think I will always have some trouble with games where I can't actually see the player's face (I'm so used to adjusting and reacting to visual cues and giving them while playing) but I would like to think the game sounds pretty fun nonetheless.

Thank you so much, Party of 1 for having me over!

You can listen to the game here:
https://soundcloud.com/partyofonepodcast/35-a-single-moment-with-tobie-abad

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep06 : A Red and Pleasant Land

5/1/2016
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Six

"To Be Queen"

A Red and Pleasant Land

It feels like months have passed since the group has been traveling through the mountains. The magical influence of the place seems to insidiously be influencing them, transforming them slowly into inhabitants of this place.  The group continues to travel within the Carpathian Mountains, despite having smaller numbers, and both Geoff and Vidar have been taking turns keeping watch. Ace recommends they push on to reach the caves which are protected by his "brothers."  There is talk about the need to get allies among the dwarves, but Vera and Ilya refuse to abandon the House since it has kept them safe for long. 

Vera asks to meet with Ilya, and privately the two discuss the house and their plans regarding magic.  Vera uses her Identify spell upon the crystal skull and attempts to understand how it can be used to create the Orb Loc.  She senses it reaches out somehow and suspects it might be drawing the body to its location.  Keeping the head dead, which means having it in water, avoids it from recovering.  She senses that weeks may be necessary to uncover the proper ritual actions to transform it back into an actual Orb Loc.  Vera wonders if she can tweak the ritual to allow the functions to adjust somewhat and still hold back magic without countering her own arcane abilities.  She asks Ilya to hide it and to never hand it to anyone else.  Vera understands now the head is that of a vampire queen, and it has to match with the correct body.

A shriek breaks the silence in the cavern nearby. Geoff runs to the sound and investigates, telling the children to warn the others.  The shriek came from Ace, but Geoff cannot seem to find what may have caused it. Mava hears it too, but when she asks Vidar, he claims he did not hear anything.  A mist moves through the window and crawls into the room.  A sultry feminine voice speaks to Geoff, whispering of wet faces in the dark, of salt and sugar.  A rock beside Geoff moves, and it looks like a Lion but it has a human head.

The Lion poses a riddle to Geoff, but he fails to guess it and is forced to suffer magically induced laughter.  Mava nearly fails hers, uttering the answer in the nick of time.  The three discuss openly, now having found a truce, and discuss their dislike of the residents. It asks if they can find or capture the Unicorn in exchange for information on how to get back.  When Mava asks about what the Unicorn has done to it, the Lion snarls at them that it has its own reasons.  It asks them about the riddle of man, about the four legs, two legs then three, and Geoff shares what it is.

They talk to Vera about the event, bothering her bath time, and they map out possible plans.  Geoff learns from the children that the March Hare would know about the whereabouts of the Unicorn.  Exasperated, Ilya sees a hole in the wall, smaller in size, and crawls to it.   Vera convinces Mava to investigate it, saying its a chance to stop being a pawn, and she casts Shrink from the scroll to make her fit.  But it makes Mava inconveniently small.. tiny, in fact.  So she goes in, walking in the tiny passage that now opens wide before her like a massive corridor, and eventually finds an axe and finds two more skeletons inside. Deeper in, she finds a bunch of animals in a congress talking about striking now while their target is not organized. Among them is the March Hare, which from their statements has returned from the Court of the Pale King, not the Colorless King.  

Mava finds a place to project her voice as if she was bigger, and starts laughing to taunt them as if she was one of "them."  The animals start to scatter, but the March Hare tries to maintain order.  She convinces it to surrender, but realizes if she reveals herself, her gambit falls apart.  She needs to follow it to head out. Then it disappears after doing some kind of a dance move. Copying it, she follows the magic it had taken and they are now the same size. They nearly duel and he challenges her to pay taxes for trespassing. She claims her liege can cover for it.

Vidar and Ilya make an agreement with the Lion to own below the mountain if they kill the Guest.  The Lion seems more scared of the Guest than it admits. Vidar reminds it of the traditions of hospitality that should be maintained.  Ilya draws out the skull and studies it, noticing the clean neck cut, suggesting a guillotine.  The head has short hair and the suggestion of  what might be a head band.  

Mava arrives, and now stands with the size of the March Hare. She translates for him, as they talk about trespassing taxes and how he serves the Pale King. Vera comes up with the idea of using the rabbit paw of Archibald to claim they are also serving the Pale King.  She claims he wanted they were tasked to deliver him the Unicorn.  The March Hare mentions the unicorn needs to be trapped at an Orb Loc, and that it is very fast and fond of cake. When asked about his unicorn horn, the March Hare admits he helped the Unicorn hide before.   Given the interest in virgin cakes, Vera offers a suggestion: The March Hare is to talk to his council - in an attempt to avoid future issues when her husband becomes king for having gathered in a council without his approval - they are to spread word of a cake party, only for Unicorns to be invited.  March hare agrees.

Ilya later visits a stream, tries to have the skull in the water, but then she starts to hear her own voice in the distance. She pulls away.  A weird frog like creature emerges with claws and moving like a biped, and each time it breathes, a face is on the bulbous part of its throat. The Guest has arrived!  It uses Ilya to speak asking for her mother.

Mava grabs Ilya to pull her away. Vidar is briskly walking to the scene.  Vera follows, drawing her umbrella.  The frog thing's head inflates into a distorted expression showing on Martin's face as it stretches.  The frog thing spits at Ilya and Mava.   It solidifies and turns into a web that traps the two girls in place. Geoff gathers the four kids to accompany him to the battle.  The two women begin to bleed as the Guest's proximity causes them to bleed from their eyes! Vidar and Vera slow down, shocked to see the horror.

Geoff brandishes the holy symbol and commands the monster to step back.  It charges at them, but two of the kids try to block its approach.  The Guest tears apart one of the kids with the least of effort.  The Lion emerges and scratches the guest, but it happens ineffectually. Vera's first spell to Enfeeble the thing fails.  As it tries to get closer to the two girls, Geoff attempts to strike with a staff but even that barely hurts it.  Vidar's tears of blood flow as he closes in to strike at the thing.  Vera empowers him, casting Haste to quicken his motions for the next few seconds.   Mava and Ilya continue to bleed blood tears. Vidar's blows would have stunned a man, but against the Guest they seem to be barely noticed.  Mava tries to find a vulnerable spot to strike but her attempt to hit it fails.  Ilya tears free from the web and tries to stab at thing while it is unaware. The blade bites deep but barely registers a grunt from the monter.  Vera leaps beside Ilya, then blasts it with a Magic Missile to its face. The Guest seems to be slightly inconvenienced by it. It tries to wrestle with Vera and she snarls at it, "Take me if you must, you will never have her!"

Geoff blesses Vidar to save his wife, casting Heroism upon him to enchant him.  Mava yells at Ironforge to go for its throat.    The Lion tries to strike again but fails.  Vidar sees the wings, however, and strikes where the wings are growing to keep it from escaping.  In anger, it drops Vera and strikes at Vidar, wounding him but thanks to Geoff's spell, the wounds are superficial.  Mava charges violently to strike with her battle axe, and it hits the Guest's neck.  Geoff slips close as well, casting Cause Light Wounds on the thing.  Vera finds the opening and runs to Ilya, pulling her from the battle while the rest "distract the Guest."  Vidar continues to fight, but this time it is the Lion that hits the monster.  Ilya begins unleashing a spell.  Vera is forced to stop dragging her, but realizes now that Ilya might be the one intended to replace Grandmama, not her.  

The Lion strikes it once more, and during this distranction, Ilya hands Vera the skull. Vera launches her final Magic Missile at the thing.  Geoff commands it to die, and the command stuns it long enough that the rest of the group finally defeats the monstrosity leaving only the dead child, Martin, in its wake and her old spellbook but its contents are in reverse.  Geoff prepares last rites for it. The group meets the Sphinx and reminds it of its agreement.  Vidar Ironforge is hailed the Underking of the Mountain.  Vera teases the Lion with a riddle on the thought that she rules the land, but lives in a cave... a place beneath the land, implying her home is under Vidar's rule.  

The Lion and Geoff discuss the vampire children, and discuss having found the head of their queen.  And he admits his companions may need the head for other purposes.  They insist they need the head for her survival.  Geoff asks them to leave the coffin open for the nonce, and to visit the new king of the mountain.  They insist however their only Queen is the Queen of Clubs.  Geoff mentions the king now pushes for the old ways and the vampiric children seem intrigued.

Meanwhile, at the heart castle, which is the reflection of the house, a throne stands.  On a throne there, sits a woman who looks striking similar to Vera, but in red.  She talks to a squirrel and reminds the thing that if he speaks properly, they will not take her head.  Tell me more of this "party?"  Jacque is nearby, just smiling.  

A Unicorn impales a vampire.  The vampire turns to dust.  "So uncivilized..." A Squirrel hands him the invitation and the unicorn brushes it off.  "But there will be cake."

Downstream from the mountain, a fish leaps out and starts walking. It bows on the pale woman sitting on the rock.  The colorless Queen merely smiles.  

Finally, the March Hare shows up in a new plain colorless court with loads of Gold, deeds to land and tax returns.  An old man with colorless clothing, which a massive fluffy beard, greets him and sees the letter.

It seems there will be no shortage of guests for the upcoming party.

  

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep05 : A Red and Pleasant Land

2/27/2016
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Five

"T, A Drink with Jam and Bread"

A Red and Pleasant Land

The group continues to travel towards the mountains.  The group finds themselves traversing a massive garden as they The hunters that were sent out return lacking in number.  The best and second best among them are now missing.    Vera has noticed the growing power of her daughter and realizes a harsh direct stance is not the way to go.  She starts acting kind and nice to others, showing an unusual side of her personality.  

The group soon encounters a rabbit and Vera unleashes her frustrations on it, promising to let it live if it gives information.  After getting what she wants, however, she severs its legs ("To keep for luck") and then casts continual light on its eyes to "light and guide it on its way."  Ilya is sharpening the sword, bitter for having been lied to.   Howls cry in the distance.  The group continues on their journey.

They soon find one of the companions bleeding, and Geoff realizes it may be a trap.  Mava admits she dislikes these things speaking with posh accents, but there's no denying that Frank is clearly injured gives his intense bleeding.  Glowing eyes stare back at them from the shadows.  Geoff decides to try bluffing his way out of the situation, telling the the Wolves of how they are more dangerous than they realize given they have defeated others whom the wolves avoid.  The Alpha wolf ignores the threat, not realizing the priest had bought time for the others to arrive.  Ilya rushes in and with the blade, she easily cleaves the Alpha of its limbs.  The other wolves begin to have second thoughts.  Geoff now reminds them they are the ones letting the wolves go for, "we do not fear Wolves."

The group returns and finds Vera cheerful, addressing Geoff by name to pray for her daughter.  She leaves with the wolf carcass, having plans on what to do with it.  She gathers the old book of her Grandmama and the ashes of her mother, but her hopes to talk with them lead to nothing.  Instead, Jack responds, emerging from the shadows and talks to her about trading gifts.  Vera hands Jack her own choker.  Jack gives her tea.  Ilya spies on them, listening in on how Jack tells Vera the Lion is the best being to approach for her daughter's safety.  She admits she needed the Unicorn horn to gain the Lion's trust.  

The group continues to the Orb Loc,  The group keeps watch of any stragglers that lag behind and might give the wolves an opening.  The group arrives at a field of roses, beautiful and fragrant.  But when Ilya tries to pluck one, they discover the roses are sentient and call themselves "Elves."  One even slaps Mava for calling it a name.  Ilya spins and the roses seemingly allow her through.  Geoff recommends to all to spin following her.  A violet rose talks about beauty and about humanoids being their fertilizer.  As the violence begins, Vera grab the tea given to her by Jack and displays it to the violet rose.  She claims to be an entourage of the "Lion" and the priest is even able to silence the violet with his prayers.  They buy the intimidation attempt as Vera claims humanoids actually drink them" so how can they be uglier than the flowers, when the very flowers are merely used to feed and refresh humanoids.  The flowers are thus intimidated and lets the group pass and continue on to the Orb loc.

When the group finally arrives, Vera realizes that she cannot see it.  Geoff and the others discuss planning a hunt but decide it might be best to be done in the morning.   During the night, Ilya and Mava find a well and inside a skull.  They bring it out of the water and discover it starts to regain marble on its surface.  When returned, the marble like skin dissolves once more.  

Vera visits Geoff, and confesses having uncertainties and raises her curiosity on his "magic".    The removal of the skull down below, however causes the Orb Loc protecting the place to break apart - an unexpected side-effect given the skull is actually the reason the Orb Loc exists.  With the Orb Loc suddenly becoming visible, Vera has a moment where she just might start to believe and have faith in greater powers.  Vidar takes the skull away from the kids, bothered by its strange craftsmanship.  But soon, the group learns that Jack is indeed a vampire, and attacks the residents of the Orb Loc.  The people there accuse the group of having brought such misfortune upon them.  In a bid to punish them, more so the elder, for such insolence, Vera casts Continual Light upon the man's very eyes to blind him.  Ilya and Mava take the skull and return it to the area below, seeing how the marble skin is eroded by the running water.  When Vera learns of the skull's role in the existence of Orb Locs, and of the story behind the entities whose skulls are used for the effect, Vera begins to concoct a plan to bring her daughter home safely.  The group finally decides to leave, but not before Mava and Vera arguing and the argument ending with false apologies.  Geoff takes the skull, forging a promise to deliver it, if not reunite it with its former owner.  A number of the children swear allegiance to him.  And Vera silently swears that Mava will be made to pay in time.

The group heads straight for the Carpathian Mountains.

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep04 : A Red and Pleasant Land

11/14/2015
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Four

"T, A Drink with Jam and Bread"

A Red and Pleasant Land

Fleeing.

Somewhere, Gods play Chess.  And as the moves are made, the forces of "Good" win as the pawn and a knight are taken.    The group finds itself encountering the puzzling nature of the hedge maze.  All have vague recollections of what transpired before arriving here.  And worse, events remembered and lived dance a confusing dance of facts and misremembered moments.    For some there seem to be something stalking them in the maze.  For others, they are travelling outside the maze, searching for the others.  People play games and animals cry in pain.  The perplexing nature of the land vexes the group.

Some encounter Mister Hatta, who was once a friend oddly remembered, but now has become a man whose age shifts with every moment and conversation.    The tea time however becomes a confrontation, however, when Vera outsmarts Mr. Hatta regarding the concepts of time and possibility, using the watch Ilya had offered her to misdirect Hatta's focus.  She stresses the fact that he cannot control nor see the past, he is in no position to make more meaningful pronouncements.

Vera, however, reminds herself of her dealing with Jack.  The two have shared discussions on how the land might best be ruled by someone else.  And Vera makes a deal with Jack that she would help her change the ruler of this strange land if in exchange she helps ensure the safety of her daughter.

Oh the things a mother does for the safety of her only daughter.

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep03 : A Red and Pleasant Land

09/20/2015
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Three

"Foreclusions and Other Oddities"

A Red and Pleasant Land

Fleeing.  There has been nothing but the need to find Ilya in Vera's mind.  But the urge to find her comes secondary to the need to flee when dangerous elements gather in the vicinity.   Vera threatens Archie, the rabbit, to give Ilya the opportunity to eventually study magic.  The Grandmama, however, warns Vera of the scarcity of reagents that can be used.

Vera assigns Vidar to watch over the rabbit, but he leaves it when she calls for him. Ilya, with the rabbit, runs off to look around the other side of the town. There, she meets "Jack, Knave of Clubs." Father Geoff and Mara and a dwarf named One try to separate Jack from Ilya. Vera makes a deal with Grandmama to give Ilya a gift to protect her.

Vidar and Vera find the well. Vera gathers glowing herbs as reagents. They learn of children living in the well. Draws one out (around fifteen years) and learns of the foreclusion he had of his mother being attacked by a man in white. Vera concludes Geoff is a danger. Jack invites them to come with her. But Mara resists the magical influence. At a well, Bob, who lives in a well, is invited to join them. Jack seems determined to gather more children from the well.

Vera and the others return to the cottage. Grandmama is on her way to leave, but Vera decides to ransack her cupboard for reagents. Ilya arrives, calling for help with word of Mara having hurt herself in a fall. Vera realizes the priest and the child are needed to talk to the Red King. When Vera starts throwing out commands, Rabbit admits she works for the Queen. He drew us to the world for the Queen needs humans. Vera plays along when the Rabbit magically compels her to bow.

Angered, Vidar picks up the rabbit, then smashes it against the wall, killing it. Ilya exasperates that moment and she starts crying and realizes there is a spare pestle under the kitchen sink.  The pestle, she later discovers, is what is needed to control the walking house.

The priest confrots a giant monocled hog, who begins eloquently talking about the pigs and the wolf. using the spear, he tries to stab it in the heart. The third pig being its ancestor...

Grandmama on a giant pestle appears, falling from sky.  She is grievously injured and is barely able to speak.  She tries to warn them of the Heart and Clubs. She warns us of the coming danger.  Somehow, despite the distance they have made since running from their enemies, Clubs close in their location.  Everyone is now in danger!

People panic. Vera tells people there is only one thing to do.  Father agrees and asks Vera for the plan.   Instead of just telling them what to do, however, she admits the best is to follow what Ilya says.  Ilya decides the best thing to do is to head for the far distant mountains.  Some choose to join them. Vera smiles inwardly, knowing now they now have a house and servants.

Geoff speaks to the Dwarves, asking them to decide on what they will do. He reminds them of his promise to them. He revisits those in the well and admits having killed the mother, an act she had him do, and promises to watch over them.

Ilya goes to visit Bob's well, but finds Jack back there. Bob is now Ace, of Clubs. He's been transformed too.  Not the kind of circumstances that would lead to having tea, nor a drink with jam and bread.

But things are never simple here in this red and pleasant land.

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep02 : A Red and Pleasant Land

04/18/2015
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode Two
"The Lion, the Witch, or the Orb Loc."

A Red and Pleasant Land

Fleeing the Castle that resembled the Bathyscape Manor and its Guest, our Fools must now find an Orb Loc for safety upon Archibald the rabbit's urging.

Will they brave the Carpathian Mountains to the North, or will they hope to lose their pursuer in the gardens to the South? 

Into the woods Vidar and Vera accompany Ilya, their daughter and the others, hoping to find a place they can deem sanctuary.  Lead by Archie, Ilya's rabbit which has now become bipedal and intelligent, the gathered find themselves moving deep into the woods and meeting its strange denizens.   A great Catterpillar is found, smoking its pipe, as it offers information on where to go next.  Its instructions enigmatic and its interests strange, the Catterpillar only agrees to be of assistance after Vidar offers it some of his fine tobacco.

Soon the group navigates a massive garden, climbs a tree to see their destination, and makes there way to what may be the location of the Orb Loc.

However, back in the real world, a Jesuit priest named Geoff and another Alyss named Mara find themselves drawn as well to the world behind the mirror.  Initially hoping to find the missing worker and his son who never reemerged from Vera's home (the man who delivered the mirror), the two soon find themselves an audience to reflections with a mind of their own.   And when they cross to the other side, a world of fear, insanity and strange eccentric abandon.  

Vidar, Vera, and Ilya eventually meet a kind old witch who lived in a hut, and Vera attempted to charm her way into subtly intimidating the woman to help them.  The woman, however, it seems has her own secrets given her concern over Ilya and her familiarity with Vera.  When the hosts of threats descend upon them, the witch and the others fight for their lives to keep the vampires from overwhelming them.  But it is Ilya, who somehow learns and is able to steer the mobile hut, who carries them away from the threats and crashes them into the vicinity of the Orb Loc.  There, while the group nurses their injuries and recovers from their ordeal, is where Geoff and Mara eventually find them and gather as a single group.

Obsidian portal page.

Dreams Betwixt Walls ep01 : A Red and Pleasant Land

04/18/2015
Dreams Betwixt Walls
Episode One
"For you, I will give a world."

A Red and Pleasant Land

A woman seeks out the dreams of her daughter to find eternal life.

A young man receives his first hat, and everyday it becomes more precious.

A dwarf struggles to keep his family intact amidst the forces of chaos.

A teacher finds herself pulled into the unreasonable histories that she teaches.

A daughter runs from her dreams and stumbles into the nightmares of Another.

“Dreams Betwixt Walls” is an adaptation of A Red and Pleasant Land, a story of Wonders and Vampires for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess game.  Our GM for the game is the Vampire Kitten's minion, BJ Recio, of Nosfecatu Publishing.

In this game, I play Vera Chernova, a 49-year old magic-user who worries about her age and her family's well-being.   She is spiteful and cruel and vicious, but deep inside her heart her daughter is the focus of her care, and her husband the sole thing she loves beyond herself.  I based her character on Missy, from Doctor Who, whose visual appearance I truly loved.    I felt she nicely captures the Victorian-Horror visual I wanted for a woman drive by fear and ambition.

Rocky plays Vidar, the dwarven husband of Vera, who cares and hopes to protect his family but tends to be bossed around by Vera.  He keeps close a chuck of unprocessed iron ore, which reminds him of his home.

Jon plays Ilya, Vera's daughter, who is the "Alice"  in the story.  She was friends with Hatta (Played by Fabs) who was pretty much terrified of everything.  They were both being watched over by Marsha (played before by Mira), the tutor, and all three were drawn into War Side after chasing after Archie, Ilya's pet rabbit who had run off into the garden.

Vidar and Vera panicked and sought to find her daughter, only to discover the gigantic mirror we had won in an auction from Transylvania turned out to be magical in nature, build by the Apuseni Dwarves.    The two leapt through the glass to discover a twisted reflection of their own home.  Eventually, the two chance upon Ilya, Marsha and Hatta, as the young servant boy, Martin, dies when something called the Guest emerges from within him.  The Guest was welcomed by the fish-headed bishop whom the others were speaking to.

The group broke into a run, hoping to find sactuary in the garden, and even beyond, the forest.  Though seemingly safe for now, they now wonder how they will find their way home.  Thankfully, Archie seems to have transformed into a talking bipedal rabbit named Archibald.  And he suggests there is a way to find safety, if they find a way to something called the Orb Loc.


Obsidian portal page.

The Gossamer Saga ep06 : Homebrewed System

01/19/2014
The Gossamer Saga : Revolution


Episode Six
"Escalation"

Home-brewed Game

Somewhere underneath the ruins of Staniga, Kale, Ash, Quince and the Blacksmith face the cultists that rush down the hall and the invisible guards from the Gossamer Tower.  Up north, the capital is under martial law and General Cray of the army has confirmed that the Regent is gone.  In a random tent in the plains of Waltein, Magda is in a tent looking at the general who is having the Prime Minister executed.  She feels the confusion that plagues the Tower.

Back at the Gossamer Tower, Chi'tairn and Larkspur are brought to different dungeon chambers.  Larkspur is being interrogated by an officer and the answers the gives him are crazy talk about Divine Rapture and the like.  The guard remains skeptical of her answers but fails to get any real answers through her.

*

Kale decides to open a portal, using the strange device embedded into his hand.  He drags everyone to the Glades, including the guards, cultists and captives.  Only Ash successfully reacts in time to land on her feet.  The rest drop against the branches and other foliage of the forest and painfully hit the ground below.  Desiring a weapon, Ash is stunned to see a shaft of light emerging in her hand, forming into a spear.  She pins a guard down and demands to know who he is.  Quince gets up to his feet as a guard lands next to him, and without a second thought, he bashes the guy with a rock.  Kale trips a cultist and the cultist rolls away from him perhaps in a hope of finding safety.  Ash demands for answers, but when the guard doesn't give any, she discovers she can split the spear of light into two short spears, pins them against the man's neck, then draws the dagger she had taken from Kale to threaten the man more directly.

Kale figures out where his companions are while another guard assaults Quince.  The cultist Kale had tripped ends up rolling on the guard attacking Quince.  As Ash pries open the guard's helmet, she hisses that the Bright One wishes Staniga to be avenged.  She demands to know where his token is.  When he refuses to give answers, Ash simply kicks off him.

The group hurries into the woods, lead by Kale who makes sure they are not followed.  Kale leads them towards his village deep in the Glades.

*

Elsewhere.  Back in the Gossamer Tower, Chi'tairn is being guarded heavily.  A smell of the sea permeates the room, and water gushes into the dungeon.  Gorval opens the door to Larkspur's cell and tells her that she changed the time table.  Faraker appears as well.  They are here to bust her out.  Apparently, Gorval is "retiring."  Larkspur insists to be brought down to Hearthkeep, which makes Gorval impatient.  Ballouise brings Chi'tairn over. Larkspur gives Ballouise an embrace and tells her that now she is understood.  She does not seem to grasp, however, that the group is making a break for it.  Ballouise seems reluctant to go far from water, but Gorval finally concedes.  The man takes all of their totems and Faraker uses his ability to bring them all to Hearthkeep.  There, they find Dawn waiting for them.

*

The cultists and the guards battle it out as the captives run away.  The blacksmith takes his silver golems to the woods and departs.  The guards defeat the cultists.   None of them seem to track where the group had gone.

*

Kale talks to the group, mentioning the possibility of using the Trust without the use of totems.  He suggests leaving the totems in the woods.  Not having her own Totem, Ash decides to try channeling her memories of Staniga and decays a tree nearby.  The power is unleashed stronger than anticipated and she ends up creating a clearing of ashen trees.  Kale climbs a tree, gets an egg, uses the Trust to grow the egg into a bird, and leaves his totem on it.  Quince keeps his for now.  Kale leads them to one of his safe houses, a tree house in the middle of the woods, and Ash decides to not ask why a messenger boy would have such a hiding hole.  The group camps down to rest for a bit.

*

Back in Hearthkeep, Larkspur starts whipping up a warm comfy dinner for everyone.  She is blind to how disconcerted everyone else currently is.  After enjoying the meal, Larkspur uses the Trust to check on her erstwhile companions.  She is able to see that the tree are in a tree house somewhere and tells the others.  Faraker offers to fetch them.  Larkspur remarks that she thinks Faraker and Kale act like lovers.

Morning comes.  Faraker finds the other group and nearly gets assaulted by Ash and Quince.  He eventually convinces them to come with him and they appear in a barn.  Ash once again sees the woman she despises and throws Larkspur an insult.  The farm girl responds in kind.

With everyone gathered at the dinner table, they exchange the stories of what they have gone through and they have learned.  Dawn explains that her group had planned on going rogue from the start.  She explains that magic is out there and that "the Trust" and the World Pool are meant to leave others dependent on the Tower.  Chi'tairn explains that there is no need for "a battery" and that they only need to call on what is there.  Pick it out of the environment.   She shares how she was able to get deeper into the libraries before being discovered, and that there is something of the prophecies coming.  The Regent may have been a key to open a doorway of some sort.  The group shares how the cultists could use magic as well and wonders on what the cultists may be hoping to achieve.

Kale draws out the mirror that Magda had given him.  He peeks inside and sees images showing that his father was finally back in their village.  

The group discusses about how they must look for a way to identify the cultists.    The group shares their observations and considers their options.  The cultists may not be of this world or plane.  Chi'tairn admits it is next to impossible to track magic, and that the center of Staniga's explosion was where the Regent died.  He had been inserted with magic.  But the questions remain:  How to find more information on the cult?   Where to find the priest with the staff which the group saw in Staniga?  Or the cultists?  Some suggest to go where the Regent died, others suggest to investigate where he was prior to his death, and some consider finding a cultist to interrogate.

Ash asks about how one can conceal the use of the Trust.  Apparently, one merely need not tap into the World Pool.  Ash shares an idea:  what if the group were to have someone pretend to be the Regent, to bait the person who killed him to come out.  Quince gets impatient and demands Faraker take them to the Glades.  Ash, Kale, and Larkspur follow suit.  Kale clearly is annoyed at Quince's actions.

They return at the tree house, and Quince quickly climbs down, intent on heading where the clearing was.  Ash contemplates on why they were chosen.  Kale tells Quince he is headed the wrong way and eventually convinces him to head down the correct path.

Back at the clearing, the guardsmen are gone.  Quince gathers up the bodies he finds lying around while Kale opts to climb a nearby tree for a higher vantage point to look for a trail to follow. Larkspur uses the cultist's corpse as a focus to find a sympathetic link with the other cultists.  The two seem to be intent on using the Trust to achieve some goal.  Kale decides to stay at the top of the tree and keep watch.   Ash talks to Faraker, and he shares how he was once a recruit like them.  How he used to be from around the Glades.  How he was taken in by Chi'tairn.

The two talk more about the rest of the group, and Ash asks him why the others have chosen this group in particular.  Faraker admits that he has not really though about that.  She asks him of his training, sharing some hints of her darker brutal past.  Faraker says his life practically started with the Order.  He barely recalls anything of his life prior to joining.

Quince is busy transforming the pile of corpses he had collected into a strange construct of human remains.  Ash crawls nearby to him and admits to him her dislike of Larkspur and of religion in general.  She admits she has made a promise to herself to destroy them.  Quince barely responds, too preoccupied with sewing the bodies together.  He uses the necromantic structure to act as a link and tries to gain information from "the hive."

Larkspur embraces the idea of the divine miracles of the Bright One and attempts to raise the dead.  She succeeds in raising the corpse back from the dead to ask a single question.  "Where is the leader?" Sadly, the corpse admits it does not know.

Quince gets glimpses in his mind of the cultists activity for the past week.  He learns that the best is still in the temple.  There was a grand gathering where all the members were called underground, that the moment they had been for had arrived.  The man with the staff talks to them of the Regent and how he has come to be sacrificed so their true masters will come and rule the land.  The Regent's death occurs directly above the underground temple.  Quince learns the man with the staff has a name:  Yogandan.

Kale was making his way down the tree when he finds the impossible has occurred.  An individual have successfully snuck up close enough to him even while he was keeping watch.  He grabs the man only to be threatened by the man's companion to let go.  He also realizes the "men" are not human at all.  They are elves.

Larkspur and Ash realizes Kale is in danger and act quickly, with Ash summoning her spear of light and Larkspur growing massive wings to lift them both up towards Kale.  But arrows fly and Larkspur whips up the winds to form a spherical shield around them.  

Kale tries to parley with the elves, talking to them about how they have not come to fight with the elves.  But as he tries to ask why the elves have come so far away from their own territory, the tree itself becomes unable to carry their weight!  Down below, Quince has transformed the tree into a honeycomb for a brief moment, hoping to make the others drop down.  Kale teleports himself to the ground safely, even as the elves mobilize to attack.  A fight is imminent until Faraker steps foward and starts talking to the elves in their own tongue!

He asks to speak with their leader.  More elves reveal themselves and some don't seem too happy that Larkspur is using magic.  Faraker convinces Larkspur and Ash to cease their magic, and to the others it seems Faraker knows the elves.  They are a scouting party who have arrived to investigate the earlier battle.  Seeing the group, the structure of corpses, and the use of magic, the elves opt to bring the group to their elder.  Kale worries silently about this, knowing how territorial elves are and how typically they ignore anything outside their lands.

*

In Staniga, the cultists are gathered, surrounded by runes formed on the ashes with blood.  Yogandan stands there, drawing power into himself.  The beginnings of a portal begin to open.

The Gossamer Saga ep05 : Homebrewed System

10/27/2013
The Gossamer Saga : Revolution

Episode Five
"Field Work"

Home-brewed Game

Kale, Quince and Ash make preparations to revisit the ruins of Staniga.  The three have realized that the cultists that were encountered in the past were huddled beneath the city's streets. The possibility existed that they had escaped the destruction of the city.  Ash sadly has little to share in the discussions, with her memories addled when she "lent" them to Chi'tairn.  Quince demands a weapon from the Blacksmith and when his demands seemingly get threatening, the smith calls his golem guardians once more.  While they argue, Kale uses the device that had been attached to his hand to open a portal beneath the golems.   Quince even forces the ceiling of the chamber to collapse, forcing everyone including the blacksmith to jump inside.  Instead of reappearing at the rafters where Kale and Ash once arrived at, they instead find themselves in the chamber where Kale had confronted the demon and created a massive tree to escape.

Back at the Gossamer Tower, Larkspur and Faraker return with Chi'tairn who appears in the guise of Ash.  With her totem and memories, Chi'tairn's disguise works well to bring her inside the tower without alerting others.  Larkspur schemes to get back at Ballouise for being always spoken of as the Bright One, and opts to use the cloak Magda had given her.  She recalls the cloak was meant to cause Ballouise's influence to fail.  She considers the idea of unraveling the cloak into thread which she hoped to use in some kind of sympathy magic, but the attempt fails.    But as she learns Ballouise is the center of the religion, Larkspur takes it upon herself to spread the faith, and bring back the light to Staniga.

Elsewhere, Dawn and Chi'tairn are talking about Staniga and what they are up against, but neither of them truly grasps the immensity of their foe.  Chi'tairn protests the choice of Dawn's helper and asks for an artifact which she needs if she is to help Dawn.

Back at the place beneath Staniga, Kale, Ash and Quince investigate the cavern.  The blacksmith and two of his golems are with them, drawn through the portal thanks to Quince's machinations.  As the group argues over how to investigate the location, the blacksmith has one of the golems tear open the door.  Ash continues to struggle through her memories as she finds bits and pieces of recollection on why the place was important to her. She finds the room which drew her close before and starts to look though the contents for anything that would jog her memory.  Kale and Quince argue with the blacksmith, who insists he wants nothing to do with them.    Ash sadly fails to find anything that strikes her as important.

Larkpur, back in her room, gains a visit from Dawn and Chi'tairn.  Dawn tells Larkspur of the importance of Chi'tairn reaching the bottom of the tower, past the room of Seers, where an object of import lies.   Dawn expresses how imperative it is for Chi'tairn to get this object.    Larkspur is tasked to make a distraction, which she accomplishes by using the angelic manifestations her room had created for her to support the Trust.  The angels gain her likeness and with both song and religious fervor, Larkspur steals the attention of the guards and seers quite easily, giving Chi'tairn the opening she needs.

Ash continues to dig through the boxes while Kale considers inspecting the mirror for another glimpse of his father.  The mirror still works and Kale sees the image of a crowd of shabbily dressed people in a dark area.  When Ash cuts herself, it happens to be the same moment when her memories surge back into her mind.  Ash sees the mirror and challenges Kale about an old argument; whether or not there is a time to kill a person.  Kale insists his father is a good man and considers that he and the others may be food for the demon.    Quince attempts to understand the golems.  Using the Trust, Quince recalls the order of the Apiary and gains control of one of the golems.  When the group finally get to the room with the people, Ash realizes that Kale's father is not someone who registers in her memories.  If Ash was to kill someone, it definitely wasn't him.  Kale fails to recognize his father in the crowd.  Quince starts to menace the people, demanding they talk and give answers but none seem to have anything informative to share.

An explosion rocks the Tower.  Larkspur sees Chi'tairn fly through the air and slam into the wall.  As Larkspur quickly moves close, she declares Chi'tairn under her protection.    The guards quickly surround them both.

And back under Staniga, Quince considers calling the demon somehow as evidence once the Order catches up with them.  The group knows the Order is making its way to locate them and they have a limited amount of time to either find more evidence or find a way out.  Tokens surge and suddenly almost completely invisible figures move towards them.  Kale looks at the far wall and sees the corridor beyond it where armed cultists close in on their location as well.    The group finds themselves trapped as cultists close in to catch them, and the invisible assailants turn out to be guardsmen from the Gossamer Tower!

The Gossamer Saga e04 : Homebrewed System

09/01/2013
The Gossamer Saga : Revolution

Episode Four
"The Forge"

Home-brewed Game

A month has passed.

Kale been preparing for problems.  Quince been at the "hive" hoping to learn more about the regent.  The Seers are helping him investigate.  Ash been "courting" Larkspur to gain more info on the Bright One.  Acting interested in her.  Larkspur has no idea that Ash is merely gathering information she can use in the future to pose as Larkspur.

The Regent been missing for sometime.  And yet, the government continues to function without him. No one seems as alarmed, which suggests they either know that he's gone or it is quite normal for him to disappear.

Quince's investigation discovers the following details:
1) The Regent has been missing far longer than they have announced he's been missing.
2) The Imperials have a warrant for him.
3) They are expanding a dragnet. Imperials looking for him.

Quince is in the library and the patterns are starting to form.  Maybe the army was a bigger problem than realized.  Ash and Larkspur are still having "cathecism classes."  Kale sparring with Gorvahl, and deep down is hoping to see Faraker.  Then something happens.

Pain.

Immense pain explodes within the inhabitants of the Tower.  For some, the pain is so intense they lose all consciousness and fall.  Others are overwhelmed and sick, puking out what they had in their stomachs.

Quince sees many seers dropping. Some begin to vomit uncontrollably.
Larkspur falls to the ground in pain, and Ash uses Perceive to see if Larkspur is dying.  Ash can see that what Larkspur is going through isn't something natural.  Larkspur forces herself up, ignoring the pain.  She knows the pain isn't something coming from the Bright One.
Kale sees those in pain, and feels the pain in his head.   The rooms through-out the Gossamer Tower lose their imaging, appearing back as an empty room.  Gorvahl begins to groan in pain and mutters as much as he can, "Dawn... we have to see Dawn..."

Quince tries to tap into the pain.  "The Hive is falling.  The bees are dying.  I want to understand why."  He uses Understand to see what is going on.  He recalls the Apiary and it fuels the use of his magic.  Around 3/5 of  those in the tower are down.  The effect bleeds off back to the Jian madj.  No one in the Apiary is affected.  "This is far spread."  He asks who to report this to, but the woman admits there's no protocol for this.

Ash rushes out, sees the corridor is littered with people.  Ash panicks, thinking the "safe place" of the tower has fallen.  Ash leaps back home to Staniga's Ass to hide.

Kale and Gorvahl realizes the different layers are collapsing into one. Tries to slap Gorvahl to wake him, but he catches his hand.  "Must get to Dawn." Kale tries asking others about Dawn but no one knows what he's talkin about.

Larkspur, now alone, thinking the Bright One is making herself manifest.
"New adherents!" she thinks.  She uses the Trust to reach out to them to calm them and do so.  The people turn to face her. "Why is everyone here now?  What is the conjuction events?"  The man turns and vomits on her.  "The Bright one does not deal in vomit.."

Back at Staniga's Ass, Ash emerges frantic and tense.  The featureless plain is like a field that has been snowed over.  There is nothing there.   The city seems to be gone.  She starts digging into the snow, wondering whats underneath.  But as she shoves her hands in, the "snow" flutters away.  It is ash!  She screams and uses the Trust to wipe the ash away to see what's left behind.  She crumbles to the ground and screams and weeps.

Elsewhere, a familiar armored figure stands in a similar ashfield area.  Chitairn drops her faceplate and weeps.  "I was too late."  There is nothing but ash all around her.  The parts of the city that stand closer to sea and shore have broken off.   Jutting islands from what was once a shoreline.  Parts of the land have broken away.

Ash realizes her city is indeed gone.
Staniga is dead.

Back at the tower, the place begins to reassert itself.  Dimensions are disentangled.  Rooms reassert themselves.  It takes a while for all to get back to normal.  But there remains no word from the Council.

Ash eventually recovers and finds her way back to the Tower.  The others learn from Ash about Staniga.  They learn of a City's death.

Quince slams a fellow person in the mess hall to the table to grab attention.  Ash and Kale join him.  Larkspur apologises the to man.  Guards arrive demanding we explain what's going on and Quince tells them we want answers.  Ash causes a nearby table to food to turn to Ash, "I am from Staniga and that is what has happened!"  "The only person who left the tower has returned and informed us the world has been destroyed."  Gorvahl arrives as Kale asks, "Who do you report to."  "They all report to me," Gorvahl answers.  "Come along children."

All four are lead by Gorvahl to the receiving room.  Walls have runes, parchment scraps, long lines of writing.  Dawn is making cords to connect things and plots in the room.  Her thoughts reach out to the others.

"If you don't want us to ask questions then let us leave to find our own answers," Ash growls.

The Council has forbid all travel.  But the group will not accept it.  Larkspur sides with Ash.  "The Council is not doing its duty, which is to counsel."

Dawn turns to face the others.  She is clearly bothered and stressed by the events. Her features aren't as polished as usual.  "I have not been completely open with you, I must admit.  It is an instinct of the order. There are things that I have seen.. that I have foreseen which I have been trying to prepare for.  Unfortunately not many of the other seers have seen the visions I have.  And so it is being dismissed as inconsequential."

Larkspur questions if there's a process for an entire land being assaulted or an attack on the tower.  Dawn explains it was a side effect.  Kale asks a Side Effect of what.  Quince mutters, "We are assuming it took a large tragedy to take this event."

"The order has become large and cumbersome over the centuries," Dawn admits, "Before a single voice and all prophecies were important."

"A side effect of what?"

"I am not certain," Dawn.

Ash accuses them of ignoring her "inconsequential city."  She asks if the armored woman knew about this.  Asks if she warned them about this.  Dawn looks away.

Quince tells them that they will be blinded by not seeing all the aspects.  Dawn shows the writing she has tried to document.   Only other person who had seen them might not like it.   She might be the only one who can leave the tower too.  The council controls the members through the fact we all draw from the tower.

"What's her name?" Ash asks.

"Send us out," Quince tells them, "Let us figure out why the past has happened."

"Get the boy," Gorvhal is ordered by Dawn.  Faraker arrives with Gorvhal.
Ash questions if he's "inconsequential" and considers what happens when one kills a fellow member of the order.  "Explusion would be a way out of the tower."  Dawn replies, "So is death."

Dawn holds out Faraker's token and it dissolves.  "It is an illusion," she tells the group.  "Faraker does not need the tower.  Not all magic comes from the tower.  You've met Madga.   You've seen the Fallen One, the beast beneath Staniga. The council frowns on this.  Few innate users have gone well.  Most tend to accidentally kill themselves when their magic manifests.  We got to Faraker in time."

"So he's not a member," Larkspur asks.

"Not really," Dawn.

"So killing him won't expel me," Ash.

"No," they all reply.   But it is clear in Ash's eyes she means every word.

Faraker can get the group out and bring them to Chi'tairn.  "She is the best personal fighter I had trained, she would have taken over the guard if things did not.. happen." Gorvhal admits.

"So you can leave and survvie," Larkspur asks.

"People like Faraker and Chi'tairn, yes." Gorvhal admits.

Kale asks if others can train to become like them.  Gorvhal admits not really.  Not everyone has the spark.   Dawn reminds them Faraker is in training and will need guidance.

Ash and Quince threaten that they can provide motivation.
Kale mutters that they will not be back within the hour.  Dawn admits that she will maintain an illusion that the group remains here and it will stand for up to a week.  Then the Council will know.

Dawn draws out a coin.  Explains it is the best way to find her.
Larkspur uses the Trust to transform into priestly garb as she walks up to them.   The group jumps.

*

Disoriented and naseous.  The group struggle to remain focused and calm as they feel their very essences twisted all around them.  They are finally are out of the tower.    They all remember that any use of their Tokens, or tapping onto the World Pool of Essence was to alert the Council.  The group arrives and find themselves in the ashes of Staniga.

Ash asks Kale for the knife she once gave him.  It was the knife she had used to try to attack Chi'tairn when they first met.  Ash tosses it to Larkspur and asks her to try to track Chi'tairn.

"The bright one says, that way."

The group walks.   Kale tries looking ahead, but worried of any threats that could stand ahead, and quickly returns.  The group continues to walk through the ashes and dust.  And soon, standing far ahead of them, is a man in a cloak with a staff in his hand.

"Well met, travellers.  Have you come to enjoy the view?"

The man speaks to the group with a calm peaceful demeanor, but it quickly becomes apparent how much malice the man truly holds.   Ash asks the man if he knows anything about what happened to Staniga.  Quince suspects the man is a threat and subtly gathers a handful of ash.  Ash asks the man about the people, part of her still hoping they were delivered from the City before it was razed.

"Where are the people?  One could say you've been breathing them.  I have never expected things to be this beautiful."

"Did you cause this?" Larkspur demands.

"I wish I had," the man replies.

"Do you know who did?"

"Why should I tell you, lost sheep of the Order?"

"Hardly lost, and hardly sheep," Larkspur hisses.

"Who did this," Ash growls.

"The Regent did," the man grins.

"Tell me more of the regent," Quince asks, taking a step closer as he spoke.

"He has served his purpose.... Which was to prepare the way.."

"Of what?"

"Grandeur."

"That is no reponse," Quince hisses.

"It is all you will get," the man remains steadfast.

"It is empty," Quince mutters and takes another step forward, "He is where?"

"Transcended," the man smiles.

"Religious then?" Quince quieries.

"Oh some would cry out in exaltation!"

"I dislike Religion," Quince growls.

"It is useful," the man challenges.

"It is noise," Quince insists.

Ash angrily takes a step towards the man, and using the Trust, calls upon the dead of Staniga to avenge themselves.  The very ash in the air, the powdered remains of the people of Staniga, become the very weapon of destruction that she forces into the man's mouth.  As the man  feels death devour him from within, his skeletal mummified look begins to get revealed as his parts are eaten away!    And yet, the man continues to have the power to speak!  "Nice trick little girl, you show promise!"

"WHO DO YOU SERVE!??" Ash screams.

But the whole body collapses without an answer.

"Leave," Ash tells the rest.  "Leave before the Council senses us.  I used the Trust.  Surely they would sense my hand in this."  But Faraker tells them all to stop.  Tells them he hears someone.  A voice.  Tells them to all go with him instead.  "If we jump now, there is little chance they will follow!"

The group jumps a second time.

*

The new world is one of stars and swirling skies.  Like the galaxies that flowed outside the windows of the Gossamer Tower, this world seemed endless and devoid of any other life.  But in the distance, a structure.
something else.  A polished steel anvil.  The size of a building.

"Where did you bring us, Faraker?" Larkspur snarls.

"I heard a voice," he tries to explain.  He admits he thought it was someone calling.  Kale breaks part of his staff on the ground, wedging it to the cracks on the stone, then weaves the Trust to make it sprout into a massive wooden bridge.    Larkspur leads the group in crossing the bridge.

Ash hesitates.  She asks Kale for the knife once more and threatens to cut her Token off.  "The Order may still track me.  I rather not endanger the rest of you."  Faraker convinces her to hold on to it, however.  He admits he senses they were all beyond the reach of the Order.

The anvil towers above us, like a massive pyramid, but seems to not have any openings.    The group eats apples at the base to recover some lost strength and sate their growing hunger..  Kale hits it with his staff.  The pyramid feels very solid.  Faraker raps the anvil with the token. It absorbs it.  A faint glow. An outline of a door.  The group steps inside.

They find themselves in a larger chamber, like a steel factory.  Large molten steel buckets moving on its own.  It is noisy and alive, yet seemingly unmanned.  A massive forge.

"She did wear an armor," Ash mutters.

Quince tries to grasp what this place is with Understand, relating the place to the Apiary.  He realizes there are diffent kids of metals being refined.  "This way," he tells the others, grasping where the man in charge would be situated if the place was a hive.   The group reaches a closed door and Quince raps it a few times with a staff.  Door cracks open.  Light shines through.  The man that emerges is dressed in a blacksmith's outfit.  He seems annoyed at the presence of visitors, and it takes him a beat to realize.. "You aren't supposed to be here."

"He brought us here," Ash shoves Faraker forward.
"He made the bridge," Faraker points at Kale.
"Dawn sent us," Kale squarely explains.
"Who?" the blacksmith asks in honest surprise.  The group stares dumbfounded.  Did they just transport themselves to the wrong place?

Larkspur tries to introduce the others, but as congenial as she sounds, she fails to convince the man otherwise of the fact he feels they should not be there.  He leads them to a room with cool air and explains that "she" comes when she needs something.   He shares how he was an artist.  But now builds weapons when asked to.  Ash inquires if he had anything to do with Staniga.  The others explain how it has been reduced to ashes.

The smith gets agitated at how dangerous the group seems to be in his perceptions.  His feelings towards them get worse when Ash suggests how Chi'tairn would rush over if she senses him being hurt.  He quickly draws something from his belt.  Larkspur Perceives their dynamic true enough and tells them, "He creates things for her.  That is all."

Smith getting agitated at how we seem to be dangerous.  Worse when he gets threatened when Ash suggests how Chi'tairn would rush over if she senses he is hurt, he flicks something on his belt.  Larkspur Perceives their dynamic and true enough, he creates things for her.  The Smith causes six silver golems to appear, and the massive things escort the group to a room where they could wait for Chi'tairn.   Ash studies them but finds them far too dangerous to try besting while imprisoned by them.

Time passes.

Chi'tairn arrives. She wears a magnificent black armor. It stands in contrast to her powerful red hair.  "We are here because of an inconsequential prophecy." Quince calls out, knowing the words should catch her notice.
"I was expecting her, not some miscellaneous crew," Chi'tairn admits.  The group talk to her about the Gossamer Tower being on lock down.  How none of them could get to the tower.  Nor leave it.  "That's why were are here."

"She could not come herself?" Chi'tairn asks, and when they shake their heads, she turns to Faraker and mutters, "I guess you brought them here."

The golems dissolve into liquid metal and are drained away.  The discussions move rapidly now, with Chi'tairn offering information the group could not have found on their own.  They discuss how the Regent was behind the attack. Him and the priest.  How the Regent did not intend for this to happen.  How he was merely used as the weapon.  Ash questions her weapons, her forge, and if she kills people - why didn't she kill the Regent before he murdered Staniga.

"I failed to stop him," Chi'tairn admits.

*

A flashback.  Dawn's visions were increasing in succession.  Each one spoke of the Regent.  Chi'tairn tracked the Regent running in the woods of Vohan.  There was a mad dash towards Staniga.  A robed figure, however, suddenly stood in her way.  Chi'tairn dueled against the robed figure, but the time it took was long enough for the Regent to get away.

Every time Chi'tairn would get close, forces would seemingly conspire to prevent her from getting to the Regent.

*

"I had lost track of him in Staniga.  There were just too many cults.  Disrupted the patterns of magic," Chi'tairn admitted that when the event happened, something must have amplified the Regent's potential for power.  Transformed him into something like a bomb.   She had to jump away as the Regent exploded.

She explains how there are many flavors of magic.  How the Order insisted that no other magic should exist.  Only the Trust was the true magic that existed.  But Chi'tairn was a bounty hunter by trade.  It is not easy for anyone to evade her when she hunts someone down.  "There are forces at work that we do not understand.  I do not understand the full pattern but I have seen some of the visions."

The pain that rippled through out tower was no random occurrence. It is attuned to the tower. Something is.  And it is coming for the Order.

Chi'tairn explains how the true power of the Council comes from the Orb at the center of the Gossamer Tower.  The Joining of the Universes.  The Council was formed because the five leaders were repentant.  People who were capable of great evil but because they had recanted, had pledged to change for the better, the Orb manifested.  "That is why the magic is called the Trust.  It was the ultimate gun to your head."

"Gun?" Ash asked.  Chi'tairn apologizes, claiming to have forgotten that the rest have not explored the many other universes.  Ash asks if she can have one.    They ignore her question.

"The Forge is not a fixed point," Chi'tairn continues.  The Tower was made by some greater being.  An overlap on the Universes.  The Forge finds those pockets and stays there, and jumps away when it must.  That's how it remained safe.

"Were you the voice that Faraker heard?" Kale asked.  Chi'tairn admits it most likely was the Smith he had heard.  "You must have picked up the resonance of the Token as he was cursing.  You don't get here by using those Tokens."

Chi'tairn admits she needs to get a chance to speak with Dawn.  The others ponder on what to do.  Ash, however, sees the plan clear as day. She offers her Token to Chi'tairn, telling her, "You can pretend to be me.  You can look and act as me.  And with this Token, the Order would believe you are me."  Kale draws out the mirror he had been given by Magda.  He peers inside and sees the image of the cult in Staniga.  It seemed that they had survived were in hiding.

Chi'tairn reads Kale's head. "That's interesting. A fallen angel. They require sacrifices to live." The cults in Staniga, it seemed, were always underground. As if they were prepared for this.   Ash offers to recheck the underground.  Quince and Kale offer to go with her.  "It may be the best way to make sure."

Back at the work shop.  Chi'tairn gives Kale something:   a frame of metal that encases his arm and a frame that rests on the palm.  Chi'tairn draws a darker onyx and affixes it to the frame on the palm. "This sort of works like a token. This won't rely on the Trust.  So it will hurt every time."  The device is to allow them to traverse the worlds.  Chi'tairn then borrows some of Ash's memories.    "I just need this for a while."

"I am used to not remembering," Ash admits.

"Yes I noticed. That is quite a big hole.  Something was taken from you," Chi'tairn admits.  The two lock eyes.    Somthing indeed.