War on the Skaven in Dungeon World (Inactive)

Game Master DM Mooshybooshy, "the Foolish"

Grigor tries to join in with a hesitant baritone...

Charisma: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 5) + 1 = 7

Guessing at the lyrics as he goes.

Compared to even the humblest of elves, Emma is, to not put too fine point on it, a hideous brute. Bulky, cumbersome, scarred, ruined in mind and soul. Still, she makes her way towards the elven child-queen, shedding her pack as she goes. Eventually, she stands before the diminutive ruler. Placing her longsword, which has been patched up as many times as she has, at the queen's feet, she kneels wordlessly, asking for her blessing in the fights to come.

Lyntel, the elf, stands on Emma's right, singing her song. Her voice lifts above the murmurs of disbelief, of terror, of fear, that come from within the crowd of frightened elves.

"Hedoun, his silver lances long and keen;
the starlight in his shield was caught,
...There might and glory, wealth untold
Were wielded from his ivory throne
In many-pillared halls of stone.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale
And metal wrought like fishes' mail
Buckler and corslet, axe and sword
And gleaming spears were laid in hoard
All these he had and loved them less
Than a maiden once in Elfinesse. . ."

The bard's voice falters and trails off as a painful flash within her mind, born of the behelit, is triggered from the sight of the Fel monster glowering down at them from the sky. Emma hesitates, glancing back at her, and for a fearful moment it seems as if the magic of the moment would be lost.

Then, a second voice, untrained but filled with a determination and passion...

"his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven's field
were mirrored in his silver shield.
...There forged was blade, and bound was hilt;
The delver mined, the mason built.
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale,
And metal wrought like fishes' mail,
Buckler and corslet, axe and sword,
And shining spears were laid in hoard. . ."

Together, with Lyntel leading and Grigor following, the human and the elf raise their voices in song over the crowd, sending a message that hope will triumph over fear...their voices, together, are triumphant. Transcendent. Tears openly flow from the eyes of the elves assembled. Archepex glances to his left to see that even the Twins are affected.

"All these he had and loved them less
Than an Elfchild Queen once in Elfinesse."

The song's final note, an achingly beautiful, harmonizing tone, is held, held, held...and fades away into the air.

As the song had been elevating into its final crescendo, Emma had been striding forth through the crowd. Elves of every walk of life bow their heads and part ways respectfully as she passes, until she stands at the very front of the assembly, beneath the Elfchild Queen's balcony. She draws her sword with a whirling flourish, and lays it humbly at the Queen's feet.

The Queen, on the balcony above, climbs up to the railing and steps off. Slowly, she descends, her magical aura pressurizing the air so that she sinks to ground level as easily as someone else might descend a staircase. When her naked feet touch the grass before you, Emma, the air around you seems to brighten. You breathe easily, slowly, calmly. At her touch, you look up at her, and feel the blessing you have been seeking, with perfect clarity. The crowd is hushed and in awe.

What is your Quest and what boons do you require?

Wow.

"My Queen. I seek only to obey. Grant me freedom from worldly cares and the fortitude to overcome the foul enchantments of our enemies, and I swear to you." She looks up, her expression one of scars and justice.

"Hell shall kneel before you."

Primarily to obey the Queen in the cleansing of Skaven and demon alike. Freedom from hunger, thirst and sleep, and some amount of resistance to magic of demonic origin.

Wordlessly, the Queen nods. The vow that Emma takes makes the demons within her soul rage and fester, and the antipaladin feels an icy heart clutching at her chest with a squeezing, irresistible malice. With effort, she remains still, betraying none of her inner torment.

The effect of Emma's vow takes the form of a vortex of whirling air around her and the Queen that washes over the surrounding crowd. This also has the effect of dispelling the demonic image hanging over everyone.

The Queen rises up in the air again, addressing the crowd with a voice that carries to every ear present.

"Hear me! While under Faldren's spell, I gained some insight into what these Skaven are planning. They are in communication with the Netherworld via a Conclave of Prophets. These Prophets, for whom "evil" is not a strong enough description, have sold their souls to the Underworld's lords in exchange for the power to speak across realities. Even now they spread their coils into societies across this land. Yes!" she confirms, as the crowd recoils in horror at her words. "Ours was not the only people that have been infested with rat saboteurs! Even the dwarven President, Coghammer, has been compromised! But with the help of these heroes, these...mercenaries...we can overcome them, and send them straight to Hell to suffer there personally!"

"So steel yourselves, my brothers, sisters, daughters, sons. The time of troubles is not yet done. Work remains. Under the banner of these liberators shall we, the Elven race, eliminate the Fel-touched Skaven once and for all!" A great cheer rises up out of the crowd at the Queen's exclamation.

Archepex joins in Lyntel's song, serving as a steady, low anchor for the higher tones of the melody. Otherwise he remains silent until the Queen formally declares war against the Fel and their Circle of Prophets. Then his voice, and every voice of his Generation, joins the clamor.

The Queen turns in midair, slowly re-entering the massive tree stump that serves as the Courthouse. From behind her, Hirohim emerges to address the crowd. He begins going into details that are specific to the Elven people about how to address the Skaven threat - home security, increased patrols, and recruitment to the Town Guard to replace those who were Skaven loyalists. None of it is directly pertinent to any of you. What do you do now?

Archepex returns to the ground and finds his fellow rat-trappers. Wicks would be glad to hear of this. We should probably update him, and get an update on his progress.

Wicks should be told, but what is the group's thoughts? Pursue the Skaven from here, or follow up on the Queen's leads about the Skaven operating around Coghammer?

I've got a feeling that Shatterspike Ridge should be on the menu at some point. Can we get some kind of map or sense of which is closer?

I admit, guys, that I'm terrible with maps, along with most other visual mediums - so in games that I run, I tend to use familiar continental maps and superimpose my own worlds upon them. For simplicity, I intend to use the North American continent for a general map reference; that way, I can stay consistent as you guys travel (though I haven't been consistent with my rations calculations. Oh well).

Okay. Where is the Sea of Trees? Pacific Northwest?

The Sea of Trees: West of the Appalachian Mountains, up and down the Kentucky/Tennessee area of America

Dhice finally pipes up, "Emma and I heard about an unknown source of demonic energy manifesting in the Shatterspine Mountain Ridge last night. I think the elves are going to do a fine job of hunting down the fleeing Skaven. We should go check out this demonic issue. We are, after all, becoming fairly well-versed in confronting demons."

I agree with Dhice. It is time to repay our demons.

Forgive my presumption here ...

Lyntel sits nervously on the back of an enormous stag, looking from Emma to Dhice, from Grigor to Milo, and finally to Archepex, standing tall in the treetops overhead with his generation.

She clamped down on her feelings as her paramour left. She had thought it to be a temporary liaison, but that has become more and more unclear.

As they say goodbye to the Elven city, Lyntel's mind wanders to her first meeting with this group, watching through a red haze as they tore through a room full of Skaven. Her eyes linger on Emma. Hardened by fire, they had become something ... different, and a bit terrifying. But most of all, that had become a team.

Archepex's signal overhead breaks the elf out of her reverie. The stags follow the treerunners towards Shatterspike Ridge without guidance or hesitation.

Hours pass at a smooth gallop, and Lyntel focuses on her ballad, scribbling furiously into a small notebook.

She nearly drops her stylus as the stag comes to a sudden stop. They are still deep in forest, but overhead Archepex has spotted something.

Archepex, why have you called us to a stop?

Dhice, the strength of your connection with the elements here seems to spike and wane at random. You've experienced something like this before. When and where?

Milo, Lyntel catches you studying something of intricate Elven design before you can stash it away. What have you taken from the Queen?

Emma, you feel a connection with the surrounding trees, almost as if they hum with the same pain that you carry. What has happened here?

Grigor, your weapon literally hums in your hand, and seems to be pulling you forward with a sense of great urgency. What do you do?

It's a piece of art from her throne room. Milo just couldn't help himself. It was so beautiful. An abstract sculpture, he assumes. It's about the size of two fists together, a silver ball covered in intricate runes and script.

"There is something up ahead. Archepex, please go check on it. We'll dismount and try to slink up behind you."

Archepex and his treerunners smell it before they see it. A sudden change in the canopy at the next ridge marks an area of woods they should be nowhere near: the Balewood. After conferring with his companions and confirming their position, Archepex slides down the trees and lands among the group.
I know what it is already, Grigor. The skaven have disrupted the balance of this wood even this far out. The Balewood has expanded.
He takes a breath and explains, Millennia ago, shortly after the Queen came to power, there was a... corruption of the land. Brandelwynn's were born then, but they are not the only symptom. The Balewood also sprang up in that time. No one knows how this corruption happened. All we know is that when the land is ruled rightly and well by the Queen, the Balewood remains fixed and small, easily avoidable. However, the recent incapacitation of her majesty has allowed it's expansion, and it made the most of it's time. It now completely blocks our way.

Hours pass at a smooth gallop, and Lyntel focuses on her ballad, scribbling furiously into a small notebook.

Dhice is fiddling with his elemental energies in a way that's starting to become a habit for him. He casually exudes a whip-thin tendril of energy, sometimes a dull brown earthen clod of mud and sand, other times a barely perceptible shimmer of air energy, and flicks leaves and branches out of his face as they journey onwards.

Dhice, the strength of your connection with the elements here seems to spike and wane at random. You've experienced something like this before. When and where?

As time passes, Dhice's fiddling begins to grow chaotic, and he eventually stops to address the group.

"We're travelling towards something odd here. Something I've only experienced once before. My connection to the elements is waning and spiking as we move, like we're wading through a heavy surf, the water rising and falling away from us. I can almost feel the energy crashing into me at times, and other times its receding beyond my grasp."

The channeler looks around at the others and fixes on Grigor."This last happened in the tunnels where you sister died, Grigor. When I snuck in to the tunnels following that raid on the crypt of the cultist Merinol."

"The Skaven in there were conducting a ritual of some kind, one that we never identified, but it had a terrible impact on the elemental energies of the entire area. I think," Dhice muses a bit and pauses, ""I think it was a wave of energy that allowed me to kill that Skaven sorcerer in a time before I had really awakened my powers and gained control of them. There's no way I'd have been strong enough to do what I did back then without some kind of major boost."

"I strongly suspect that some kind of similar ritual is being conducted somewhere nearby here."

I'll PC-GM until someone else takes over. Perhaps we could do an opt-in tap-in system, where I'll call on a volunteer to take the reins? Of course, there is a very real possibility that this is all just a collective fever dream brought on by some Skaven ritual.

Let's just go ahead and assume it is until Mooshy says otherwise. :)
As for tapping in, I'm ok with that, though I've never run this system before.

Since you took the reins, Lyntel, how about you run with it until you want a break?

Lyntel grins at Milo when she briefly catches his eye, and then dismounts and approaches Dhice. Do you think you could pinpoint the source based on changes in the amplitude of power discrepancies?[b] She catches herself speaking entirely too quickly and blushes. [b]I mean, maybe the difference between the spikes and valleys of your connection grows stronger the closer we get to the ritual. Do you think you could lead us to it?

She calls up to Archepex. Do you really think the Balewood could be manipulated by a Skaven ritual? Surely this is beyond them.

Archepex, nobody has entered the Balewood for centuries. Why not? What dangers await within?

Grigor, your weapon still calls you forward, into the Balewood. You almost think you can hear whispers in your head (This way, hurry! There is little time!), but that would surely be madness.

Milo, it looks like there is a button on the bottom of the silver sphere, surrounded by Elven script. Do you speak Elven? What will happen when you push the button?

Do you think you could lead us to it?

"It might be a little time consuming for me to wander around 'testing the waters', so to speak," says the channeler with a sly grin, "but I've got an idea. What we need is a hound that can smell elemental energy." Dhice gestures with raised arms, power ripping through the emanation points on his forearms, sending his tattered sleeves into a frenzy.

Summon Elemental: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 1) + 3 = 9 "Whoa, that was an unexpected surge!" he mutters as he immediately loses a bit of control on the elemental. chose "lose 1 control" for my 7-9 result

Elemental control: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

The familiar mud ball named Muppy forms up out of the ground and immediately trots over to Dhice, nuzzling his legs and making a huge mess in the process. The redhead seems not to care as he plays happily with his now-familiar friend for a moment, before sending him off to range ahead.

As Muppy moves around on his weird, stublike feet that emerge from the front to take a step and then re-absorb from the rear, he grows and shrinks in sync with the energy waves.

"Archepex, the effects on Muppy are pretty obvious, but I'm not sure how to actually home-in on the source. Can you use this to help track down the source?"

Grigor whistles at Muppy.

"This way, boy, follow the bad noise"

Then, using a combination of where his sword is pointing and Muppy's intuition, the two us run off into the bush, seeking adventure.

Archepex nods. It's possible, but none goes into the Balewood for a good reason. Not one ranger, neither treerunner or stag-rider, has come out unscathed in centuries. Some reported deadly beasts, some shifting terrain and loss of direction, some of magic that played with their mind.
In short, we have skaven to kill, but watch your back. The rats aren't our only foe here.

Milo, it looks like there is a button on the bottom of the silver sphere, surrounded by Elven script. Do you speak Elven? What will happen when you push the button?

It'll certainly give away that he's stolen something. It could just be a music box or an an elaborate interactive art piece. It could be functional, like a weapon or a tool. It's entirely out of his best interests to push that button. Dangerous even. There's no way he should ever push that button. Just hang on to the sphere, keep it safe. Maybe sell it if he gets the chance. Pushing the button only ends poorly for Milo.

Milo pushes the button.

Then Grigor and Muppy lead the way. Archepex takes to the trees and follows with his twin shadows right behind.

Could I pass the "face the dangers of the balewood" scenes to Archepex, and perhaps then pass the "Encounter the Skaven ritual" scene to Dhice? Is that a reasonable way of doing this?

By the way, have any of you played the Night Witches PbtA game? It has an interesting GM-rotation mechanic, which may or may not have inspired the fact that the GM rotates every session in the Star Trek World of Dungeons hack I've been toying with.

Can't say that I have. I'll take the journey to the ritual, sure. I'll t 4th to get an initial post up later tonight after I've given it a bit of thought. :)

Count me in for the ritual

I'll take the important role of "hit things and follow the railroad"

Emma follows the group into the wilderness, longsword drawn and swishing gently. Her gaze is steady.

Discern Realities: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

Hahahaha have fun Archepex!

Here we go!

None of you are really sure exactly when
you crossed the line into the Balewood. You're walking/riding along and you're suddenly there. Maybe?
The first sign is the sun. It shines still, but you feel it's heat less and less. Then Archepex notices that the leaves are changing. They are shiney as with dew, yet completely dry. Those of you on the ground notice the trunks also getting more shiney. Within the hour the entire forest has turned into metal. Trees have become impossible to run due to razor sharp leaves. Roots have become immovable rods of iron that threaten the feet of everyone. Shrubs, sparse though they are in the dense canopy, have become free standing clumps of barbed wire. Progress is slow.
Muppy slowly starts to show signs of being effected by the strange environment. He is getting less fluid with time, and his shifting size is starting to sound more like sand shifting than mud.

And it's not only the environment. Everyone feels the presence of the Balewood like a Nikon invisible eyes following your every move.

Emma- The demonic energy in you feels more natural to you here. You feel Right here. When was the last time you felt this way? Doors this disturb you?

Grigor- with muppy's assistence you are homing in on something. Not the ritual, you think, but definitely a concentration of power. What does it feel like?

Lyntel- The first seems to be both watching you, yet not. Does your head feel funny?

Dhice- Muppy I'd not getting well, and the energy is feeding back into you. You feel your joints getting a little stiff. What do you do?

Milo- You spot a bush off to the side. In the middle of a metallic bramble you spot a flower that has been transformed into a beautiful copy of itself made entirely of gemstones! What do you do?

Sick.

No. No it doesn't. In fact, the bubbling pit of slime in Emma's brain recedes a little, biding its times, conserving its strength. It's no longer an insane, barely contained maelstrom. It's watching. Testing. Measuring the strength of its cage.

Emma prods at the tangled metallic brushes. "Lyntel, Dhice, you wouldn't happen to have any lightning magicks hidden away somewhere? Because this place would be... well, if you are planning on using it, do tell me beforehand so I can remove myself from the situation."

Nikon = million. Stupid phone.

If there's one thing you can count on from Dhice it's his almost absurd devotion to personal fortitude. He's not a physically imposing man, there's no hiding that, but his stamina is above reproach. He could carve granite with a 5lb mallet longer than any of the burly stone workers he trained with.

When his joints start to stiffen he brushes it off. When walking becomes difficult, he tries to force himself to carry on. defy danger CON: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 4) + 3 = 11.

For the time being, the effect is hidden from the others and borne in stoic silence by the channeler. Surely any worsening of the effect, or an attempt to act quickly, will test Dhice's mettle further. If it becomes a test of his strength to overcome the resistance things could get truly difficult for the young man.

Lyntel feels a pressure behind her eyes, and unintelligible whispers in her ear threatening to draw her attention away from the present. She shuts out the whispers, in the hopes they are merely her imagination.

Defy Danger Con: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5) + 1 = 10

Grigor's rush to get in on the action gets him quickly separated from the group. He finds Muppy quickly unearthing a white stone obelisk, shot through with veins of sickly glowing energy and decorated with motifs of a horned skull. Grigor, forgetting himself, immediately starts helping Muppy with the digging, all thoughts of fighting forgotten.

I still need resolution on what happened when I pushed the button. One temptation at a time!

Milo presses the button; the effect is at first hard to decipher. Slowly a haunting melody begins to emanate from the item. It resonates and thrums in your hand as it plays. For a while the melody is light and barely perceptible, but as time passes and the group plunges deeper into the cursed wood, it starts to change.

Milo, what happens with the music around the time that Grigor and Muppy find the obelisk?

Lyntel, why is this the last place on earth that you'd want this particular melody playing?

Lyntel starts at the music. Impossible! She knows the tune well because she has been tinkering with it for weeks. She has never shared it with anyone.

As the melody darkens, the whispers turn to verses in her mind. Verses of a dark future, of the fall of the elves, and the death of Archepex as he is consumed by the Balewood. The lyrics are mocking ... taunting.

I think maybe someone not under the effects of dark sorcery needs to makes some choices. ;)

When I get Milo's answer I'll move on.

Sorry gang, busy time at work!

The music on the music box picks up in both speed and volume as they approach the obelisk. It's almost like it's...excited that they're nearing it. Milo desperately hits the button again, but it has no effect, so he crams it into his bag, uselessly. Panicking, he drops it on the ground, hoping that people pay more attention to it than to him.

With all this commotion going on, he of course doesn't go anywhere near the jeweled flower. Too much heat on him!

Dhice starts to get jumpy as the music gets louder. When Milo finally drops the bag containing the music box, he makes a snap decision. Bender of the Elements: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 6) + 3 = 13 hold 3

He first makes a scooping gesture with his hands, causing a great divot to be plowed into the earth beside the box. Then he pushes at the air in front of him, and the ground beneath the box heaves and then slides into the newly formed trench, taking the box with it. Last, the makes a gathering motion with both hands, pulling the mounded earth back over top of the box, burying it beneath a good 2 feet of loose soil.

Milo's eyes bulge. That wasn't just the music box in the bag that's now buried under the earth...it's ALL his stuff except for his trusty daggers, his armor and his bow.

He looks to Dhice, trying to keep his cool.

I'm not...uhhh...against the decision to bury the cursed music box that someone clearly planted in my bag, but is there any way to save my collection of...errr...clock repair tools?

Ha, I read your post as "I stuff it in the bag, but that's useless, so I instead drop it on the ground." Didn't realize I buried your whole bag.

Sheepishly, Dhice shrugs at Milo. "I guess we could dig it up? Let's see if we can use the momentary quiet to figure out what's up with this obelisk first, shall we?"

Grigor seems to be completely overwhelmed and out of his mind. As does muppy for that matter. They both are digging at the hard ground with their bare hands. The problem is that the floor of a forest is usually full of fallen leaves and other organic matter, which is now all metal. They are cutting themselves, and badly!
Grigor and Muppy each take 1d4 damage that ignores armor

With the music box buried the power of the obelisk seems to wane slightly. Grigor, you may defy danger to break it's hold. Remember the new defy danger text. :)

The rest, you feel a probing at your minds. It seems to test your wills, drawing you to the obelisk with it's dark power.

Lyntel begins singing, forcing tendrils of magical energy to reach out towards her companions. She strides forcefully towards the obelisk as her voice rings clear among the metal trees.

I'll roll once for each party member I'm trying to affect with Arcane Arts. Here's to lots of complications and XP!

Arcane Arts Lyntel (break enchantment and +2 to next aid): 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 1) + 3 = 9

Arcane Arts Grigor (break enchantment and +2 to next aid): 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 1) + 3 = 10

Arcane Arts Dhice (break enchantment and +2 to next aid): 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 5) + 3 = 12

Arcane Arts Archepex (break enchantment and +2 to next aid): 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1) + 3 = 6

Arcane Arts Milo (break enchantment and +2 to next aid): 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 4) + 3 = 13

EDIT: Not too bad!