Laguna, you feel the red hot steel of the sword and it hurts exactly like you expect it would. You take d6 damage, ignoring armour.
When you retract your hand the runes that were etched along the blade of the sword now appear mirrored and seared into your flesh. They glow with a strange fire, and as bright as if they were living fire. Curious.
The runes are as bright as torch, and hot to the touch.
Sarthel, you notice something shift in Laguna's aura. It previously felt like a dark pit of power, like staring down into an ancient well - deep, quiet, cold. Now it feels as if someone has lit a fire in the darkness, it's the dark of a dragon's den.
"We are resolved." says the Knight. "The blood between us is shed. The matter of the young-blood that you hath laid low... we will resolve tonight." She then brings forth a flask. She takes takes a swig and bares her teeth, hissing at the burn of it before passing it to Teren first, and then around the group.
Do you all partake?
---------
Rankev, in the instant Onick begins falling you whip into action. Ariendel leaps forth to prevent you both from falling down the mill, who in turn clings from the unseen servant. Unfortunately, you can't do it quietly.
The unseen servant reels the three of you in, it's merely a shade, but you detect a mote of disdain at the veritable clown show you've just enacted.
From above, you hear a sticky, sickly voice.
"Mlyerkkk, more.....more friends for Dolem? Mlyerrkkk... yesss."
Laguna, the Knight's gaze softens. "You have chosen the Dragon's Debt. Though your visage be monstrous, the heart of a knight dwells within." While impressed, she clearly needs concrete assurance.
"Silver tongue now wreathed in flame; Grasp the words you hath proclaim'd."
She extends the blade of the red hot longsword to you Laguna. The gesture, and invitation to self harm is clear.
She wants you to grasp the blade. What do you do?
-----------
Rankev, you start ascending the stairs. They circle counter-clockwise around the old mill up to landing above.
Ariendel leads, you follow. Onick takes the rear.
Thick, ropey cobwebs droop down from the landing about 10 feet above you (that's where the wet smacking sound is the loudest).
You make it about half way when Onick puts his armoured feet through a bad plank. Although a Wizard and an Elf might be a light load, it looks like these decrepit old stairs couldn't bear the weight of a Paladin in armour!
He starts to waver, about to fall - you might be able to grab him if you act fast.
Laguna, roll a Parley as you feel the Knight measure your words.
-----
Rankev, you're accompanied by Ariendel and Onick. While they're with you they're considered hirelings.
Ariendel the Elven Guard's cost is The Thrill of Victory and his skills are
*Protector 2
*Tracker 1
*Loyalty 1
Onick (as a hireling) has the cost of Good Accomplished, and has the skills of
*Warrior 4
*Priest 4
*Loyalty 2
Remember these, and specify when they're aiding or using their hirelings moves with you.
Rankev, you enter the windmill, the room around you is dark despite the afternoon sun outside, the stones slick, a few old and dusty tools are scattered around.
When you look around the windmill, you notice something - despite the breeze outside, the blades of the windmill aren't turning. When you get inside you feel the air is humid, and there's a damp, sticky residue in places - clogging the gears too. On closer inspection... it looks like wet masses of cobwebs?
You should be on the lookout for spiders.
You hear a wet smacking sound at the very top of the tower, however due to the delapidation of the mill, the wooden stairs are shabby and broken in most places. How could the LifeCleric have ascended them without breaking them?
Teren, The Scalian's have very convoluted systems laws about ritual purification, and rectification of wrongs. You know something interesting - paying a blood debt is much like a koan. You are presented with a challenge, and the challenge must be met... How you do that, what you say while doing it, and every precise action you take following the issuance of the challenge forms part of your response.
Right now, the Knight's gaze is fixed sharply on Sarthel, whose defensive words are being measured.
-----
Rankev, you cause a ruckus in looking for the LifeCleric - but still he's nowhere to be seen. Still, as you scuffle around you think you hear something... a wet, smacking sound from atop the Windmill.
The Knight nods to you each in turn as you speak your parts. "Then, the land hath shifted in the Catastrophe."
"The survivors wouldst surely not march a day towards certain danger. Unless we have no option I'd not soon trek towards the watchtower."
She then takes a small stick of charcoal from the now kindled fire and circles the Ruin that Sarthel described.
"My people... our people... they need rest and supplies before all else. Perhaps then the ruins may offer the surest safety and a defensible position. Although thine Wizard is shrewd with fortifications here, a mill is no true shelter.
From the ruins, an expedition of the skilled and able-bodied might find the fruit of the Blackened Grove to sustain us.
And perhaps we will find more? The Histories of Scale speak of the spoils of the Old War being stowed in secret caches within the Chromian valley."
"If I have your support, we will make for the Ruin in the morn.. and we have but one final matter to attend..." Her tone takes on a cold edge.
She stands, and plunges her longsword into the campfire - it begins to glow red with heat. Along it you see wicked and beautiful draconian runes ignite. "Circumstance has found us allies, but there is blood spilled between us. The youths I sent to the river never returned. Do you think perhaps I would forget them?" She turns to you all, longsword outstretched expectantly. Knowing the Druid took no part, she speaks to the others.
"Who among you will pay the blood debt?"
-----
Rankev, at Ariendel's direction the Chromians start setting up for the midday meal. It's meager fare; some biscuits, a plain soup, and no spices.
That's when you realise... the group looks one smaller than before you began.... Where did Davis go? You remember seeing him before the work began. He was helping out with the supply crates.
The knight begins setting up a campfire, awkwardly, as if unaccustomed to it. "My squire... was one of the first to fall."
She then flattens out a patch of earth, and draws a few points on it.
"The earth has shifted, whether by magick or nature and the sad truth is that we are lost. Pursued by these foul beasts that stalk the wood. We came here for the aid of the Chromians, but now it seems we may share their fate."
"What scouts we've had return have told us of the following landmarks. A watch tower flying a white flag a day to the north. A tangled thicket of dark wood, behind us here to the east. The river we found you to the west. A moss covered ruin in the south."
"Chromians, what can you tell me of these? Perhaps together we will chart this new wilderness and find a way to seek aid or safety; perhaps even unravel what blasphemy against the Gods did Chromia invite."
Sarthel, Laguna, Teren, each of you recongise one of these locations. Tell me about one of them.
-----Rankev-----
The group follows your command, Laguna's friend Ariendel serving as an effective aide in directing the common folk. Together you're all able to reinforce some of the broken masonry, and create some basic defenses. With the meagre supplies it's just a small hut and cobbled-together fortifications, but the work seems to motivate the crowd out of the stupor.
"That should suffice for the short term."[b] Asks Ariendel, his elven frame weary with work. [b]"But we have limited supplies, we can't stay here forever. Do you have a plan Wizard?"
Sarthel, that's where roleplaying comes in :) I suspect it will be a defy danger on CHA roll that encompasses what you're trying to do, but I'll make the call depending on how you guys choose to act.
In the next posts, make it clear whether you're getting debriefed with the Knight, or helping the group. If you're helping the group, say how it's up to your imagination! The person leading the efforts to restore the group should be the one rolling, everyone assisting them will be making an aid roll.
Thanks for asking Sarthel. Things have settled now, but I actually didn't realise it's been so long!
As you all decide, the group follows your lead and instructions back to the mill. They're all weary, and tired from the near miss that Laguna saved them from.
The mill is as you might all expect - tall, worn, and overgrown with greenery.
The wind has died in the trees. With quiet familiarity the Knight starts leading the others to pack up some supply crates from around the back of the mill. They begin setting up a small encampment at the mill's base, struggling though from their fatigue.
The Knight then looks to you adventurers, and gives a curt nod to the side which clearly means "We need to talk.". She begins leading the way to a small ridge overlooking the windmill, a simple tent with a small red banner and the remains of a campfire.
Sarthel, your admission of psionic power was met with little recognition. These folks have simply been through too much to care. You do notice something though... your mind's eye sees it ever so slightly: when you peer through the veil you see after images of the shadow creature leaping out, darting between people in the group savaging them. It's their collective fear and trauma, manifesting in the beyond. But it's still blurry, unfocused. You can tell that they're on the verge of breaking, and when they do this after image will solidify - when that happens? Well only bad things can come of that. Unless these people raise their spirits they're going to be chum in the waters to anything that preys on emotions and fear.
You notice something about Teren too, when you look through the veil, his left eye has a dim pink glow about it.
There's plenty that needs being attention... What do you all do?
It's at this moment, that the four of you hear the heavy hoofbeats of a large animal echo up from the path.
You see a strange sight, a red cloaked knight and a small girl atop a bison, its face markings look familiar.
Teren, it's hard to hear anything over the clanking of the knight's armour atop your back and the loud thuds of your heavy bison feet. You see the group, Laguna in a defensive position and Onick at the ready. The others intermingled with the sorry lot.
That feeling when you spend 30mins to write an update and the forums crash when you try and post it. Welcome back all!
Sarthel, a young couple start a small scuffle in front of you, a red-sashed man fending off a Chromian girl's pleas before she gets frustrated and storms over to you. "We need your help. Please. It's Tima's arm, he's been hurt but we have no medicine and the wound is starting to sour."
The man looks away, too prideful to admit he's in any danger. But he's clutching his left arm, which looks to be bandaged from the elbow to the wrist.
Rankev, the man you recognise as Varus looks like he's been through hell, an operating purely on adrenaline, but when he recognises your voice he runs over to you and grabs you by the shoulders. "Davis! You made it too....." He then brushes himself off, ashamed to be caught in such a compromised position. "Of course... the great Rankev the 'Powerful' would appear here, in my hour of shame. So much.... so much lost. By the Gods, do you have any food??" He looks a little delirious.
Laguna, you gain three hold! The group definitely seems less panicked while you're in your defensive position around them. Your comrade Ariendel appears stoic as ever, but sorely fatigued - his soft raven locks now matted with dirt and detritus. Still, he greets you with elven poise. "Hail Laguna. There is much to discuss, but you're right. This beast has been stalking us day and night, each time we land a blow it disappears as if it were never there. Young Tima was the last to strike a true blow on it - and it's been keeping its distance ever since until now."
Onick, feel free to roll a Discern Realities if you're actively looking around for a defensible shelter - but since no one here recognises you as a figure of authority they're mostly focused on the familiar faces. A few voices pipe forth from the crowd "The mill is the safest place!" "We have no time, it'll be back! There's an old ravine nearby!" "We should seek out the Guardian Beasts! They'll protect us!"
Terren, you gain 2 hold and all your proposed moves. The knight saddles you with one confident motion, you feel her armoured gauntlet grab hold on the scruff on your neck. You can tell she feels more at ease mounted than on the ground. You hear her whisper to herself "... This will be a tale to tell at the next bloodsmeet." Mirabelle is quivering nervously but latched on tightly.
Sorry guys, Xmas time is busier than I anticipated so I'm starting the holiday hiatus early!
Since a hiatus is as good a time as any I'm going to run an End of Session move right now!
Everyone, since we have some hardcore RPers here I'd love for you to actually roleplay this as an internal reflection from your character's perspective on the events that have taken place.
So.... Mark XP if we as a group:
*Learnt something new and important about the world? [this is a yes!]
*Overcame a notable monster or enemy?
*Looted a memorable treasure?
And individually if:
*You fulfilled your alignment
*You resolved a bond - talk about it with the person you share the bond with, and if you agree it's resolved, write a new one.
Also:
*Mark an XP because your GM is slow on the updates, Merry Christmas :)
Sarthel, Rankev, your shouts to the group give them pause for a brief moment. You suspect from the relief on their faces that they were expecting something more... monstrous? They don't seem to react to the large stone in their way. I'd say 1 weight is probably the size to be held in one hand - big enough to bludgeon someone with, but not a boulder by any means.
Onick your cry of attention causes them to tense, some of them to drop to the ground in fear at your panicked tone. They're a clearly jittery bunch.
It's as this happens that an enormous black shape leaps in the middle of the group in a predatory strike. It's as big as a horse and cart. Wide, muscled, arms ending with outstretched claws rake towards the group. Flailing shadows sprout forth from the creature's back, like razor tipped whips. A mouth of countless white teeth, and a tongue of blood red. Its feline eyes like flaming torches, gleaming a bright, unearthly, pink.
Laguna, your blast travels through the group, those standing see it coming and duck for cover. It lands dead on in the centre mass of the beast. Strangely, it's gone. Vanished without a trace when your black bane hit it.
The group slowly, precariously, picks itself up. From the Chromians among them, you recognise a few of them.
Laguna: You recognise a fellow guard, an elf. What's their name? Why do they owe you one?
Rankev: You recognise an academic rival. Why do they sneer at your work?
Onick and Sarthel: You're newcomers in Chromia, all of these faces look unfamiliar to you. But you've seen their haunted eyes countless times before. Those of the displaced. Those of the hunted. Those of the broken-hearted.
Teren, the knight follows. The three of you make a move towards the river. As you do so, you hear the sounds of shouting and see a massive dark shape in the distance. But suddenly it's gone, as if it were never there. From deep within the woods on both sides of the road, you hear something softly stalking, the sound of twigs snapping under massive paws.
Thanks Laguna. I think as well, that what your leverage will be changes based on the fiction. For example, offering a bribe isn't really going to help in this situation. But bribing a town guard to look the other way while you trespass somewhere would be much easier.
The trigger of Parley is: when you have leverage on a GM Character and manipulate them. I'm going to rule that as a negatory Rankev. In this chaotic instant, a floating rock doesn't constitute leverage (especially considering we're playing this in a valley full of magic and wonder!). In other circumstances it may well be leverage, but in this example you also didn't threaten them with it.
I think here's where DW starts to fail a little in a PBP setting - it's up to the players to describe their action, and the GM to tell them if they triggered a move. This works fine around a table, but is a little clumsy on a forum. So for clarity, here's how it will work:
If you believe your actions trigger a move, then roll that move. If I disagree, I'll either invite you to rephrase your actions with a 'no, but...' or 'if you want to do that, you'll have to ....'. If it straight up doesn't apply, then I will use discretion (and I invite others to chime in just like Sarthel here) and simply say the move hasn't been triggered by your action.
The latter of these cases is what happened to Rankev in this instance. Your action didn't trigger a move. I'll be posting an update later today.
What here is not what it appears to be?
It looks like the group is actually comprised half and half of Chromian refugees and Rebels.
What is about to happen?
As you stare intently, you're drawn not just to the crowd, but the region of wood behind them... there was nothing there before, it's like a click-of-the-fingers inside your mind as you recognise what it is. A huge, shadowy form stalking between trees. A pair of pink eyes, watching closely. How did it cross the river? You were all standing right there!
It's stalking them with a predatory gait, and it looks like it's getting ready to pounce on the group.
Who's really in control here?
It's not the rebels, they seem like they're just as concerned as the Chromians. The creature stalking them, getting ready to pounce is the one in control of this whole situation.
Sarthel, the emotional state of the group is a mix between panic, anger, fear, exhaustion.
Onick, you pray and Tarmos answers. Standing right next to you, your companion Laguna feels like a deep lake of evil, it's overwhelming, distracting. Careful that you do not gaze too deeply into it.
His proximity to you is clouding your senses, but you feel like a smaller point of evil lies beyond the approaching group, somewhere in the background.
Teren, the Crossie nods to you apologetically before floating off awkwardly into the bushes nearby.
The knight looks on, inscrutable behind her visor. You aren't sure that she approved of that.
Sarthel you're able to aid them successfully! And without putting yourself in any danger. Hoping that one of them factored in your +1.
Rankev, you drape the wool blanket over the shadow-rended rebel, he's passed into unconsciousness as well. I'm guessing as you're fiddling around with the items you manage to pull together all of your equipment too. As you do so, the sun passes between clouds and you catch a glint of sapphire amongst some of the flotsam. I'd say it's within far range.
Onick and Laguna, you guys get out of the river safely... but you don't do it quickly. Even with Sarthel's strength. You each heave onto the banks of the river again, sopping wet, shaking, but otherwise undamaged.
As you do so, Rankev you see it first - but a group of people are charging into your position from a dusty trail nearby. From the flashes of red on their clothes... they look to be rebels too. But a few of the shouting voices sound familiar....Chromians? I'd say there around 15 people in all.
Because of the time you guys took to haul in Onick, Laguna, and the Rebel, you've only got a few seconds to react before the group reaches you.
Across the way, the pair of enormous pink eyes glows brighter for a split second, and then vanishes.
Teren, the Knight looks at you in awe and horror as you cycle through forms. As you speak, she kneels apprehensively then picks up one of your scattered crow feathers, eyeing it in wonder and silence.
Mirabelle answers for her instead. "It came up out of the ground Mister Teren... Right after Chromia was...."
The Knight, still looking at the feather curiously, speaks up as Mirabelle chokes on tears. "We didst behold the crystal from our encampment... We felt the sundering of the land and dared venture into this blasphemous valley of yours. Hoping to save those sorry souls that might be displaced in the ruination." snapping to her senses, and standing up.
"Were there more of you? I sent some of the young-bloods to the river to salvage what they can. If there are others like you nearby we should leave this place together - I've lost four-and-thirty blood brothers to the pink eyed demons. The only hope we have now is to fight together towards safety."
As always, let me know if I've missed anything you were asking about in your posts.
Laguna, you did rescue the rebel first. He's spluttering on the shoreline, and is currently stunned. My description to Sarthal was just clarifying what she's able to accomplish by moving around. She was trying to bridge the gap by moving closer. It wasn't a chronological statement.
Onick, I'm going to say you grabbed and loosed a few sections of your armour to keep afloat - your scale armour now has -1 armour until you repair it, but you don't have to remove it completely.
Sarthal, you've now got Onick and Laguna on the end of your rope.
Onick, by hooking him through the sash, you’re able to maintain your grasp on both for the time being! No roll needed.
Rankev, you can’t make out what the beast is from here - but you know something interesting and useful about the glowering eyes in the shadow. They say the eyes are a window to the soul and so you know that the creature is under the effect of strange and powerful magic – and by the hue of them, probably the same type of magic as the crystal that’s hanging in the sky above Chromia. The useful part is that crystals require the touch of skin to unleash their full power, meaning that this creature likely has a pink crystal somewhere in its body, creating the magical effect - if you dislodge it, the magic effect will end! Where’d you learn this?
Sarthel, the way I’m imagining it is that you positioned yourself as best as you could before you threw the rope, which included things like moving to get the best geometry, judging the flow speed of the river etc – so if you want to go 1 metre in, you’ll defy the danger of being swept away like everyone else. Thankfully you see Laguna wade in fearlessly to start hauling them all in….
Laguna, you feel the biting cold of the river. Like Rankev, you feel the cold chill you to the bone…. Do the Erze even have bones? Nevertheless, your partial means that if you want to brave the river a second time to bridge the gap for Onick you’ll have to take a debility against your DEX just like Rankev. That’s your hard bargain.
As all of this happens, the huge pink eyes narrow, and an enormous black paw emerges from the bushes beneath it. The paw looks big enough to rend a horse to pieces with but a swipe. You all hear a low rumbling, mixed with strange musical harmonics… an otherworldly magical growl as the beast begins a slow stalk into the open. What do you do?
Teren, I love the idea of a crow spirit lying somewhere in your psyche keeping an eye out for you. As the pink engulfs you, you suddenly hear a crow cawing loudly from within. The crow tries to intercede for you, but in doing so it endangers itself. Your ugly choice is that you can either let the crow take your place and injure itself in the process – it will be magically changed, and you won’t be able to take its form until you find the original and restore it, or you can give yourself over to the crystal’s influence and spare the crow. If you do the latter, I’ll come up with a custom move for you to roll to figure out exactly what it will do to you.
I'll let you decide that Teren. My thought is that you can both understand each other, but less through explicit language and more through your druidic spiritual connection.
Teren, I think its fine to double up in your post given that one doesn't prohibit the other.
For Crossies and their transformative behaviour? You know something interesting - which is that Crossies are highly adaptable creatures, always being in magical confluence with the lands they inhabit.
The Knight begins to answer, using Scalian calendar systems. Third Season of Watchers of the Blue Dragon, Forge in Ascendancy, Second span of the bimonth of Blackholdt. When you put it all together you realise there's a gap... it's a full two weeks later than you thought it was.
For what you know about pink crystals? Well, nothing comes to mind. But as you gaze into its facets, a gentle glow starts emanating within. It's utterly captivating, you wonder what it feels like to hold. Maybe if you could just touch it.... its pull is nearly irresistible. You hear the sound of Mirabelle and the Crossie start yelping, but their voices sound distant. There's movement from the Knight too, but her shape is a slow blur.
The world starts fading into memory and the pink light seems to start engulfing your very being.
Rankev, mark XP. You wade in too deep in your attempt to help Onick! I have two options for you. You can be swept away by the river along with those you were trying to help, or you can brace yourself and keep your footing, but you’ll get the shakes from the biting cold of the river and take a debility against your DEX. Your choice!
Sarthel, I’ll count that as a use of your adventuring gear, please mark it off your profile and add a rope (10 metres, 0 weight). We’ll say you’ve managed to grab the rest of your belongings as well. I don’t think you need to roll. You rush to the river bank and toss one end in the water, it bobs near to Onick but falls about 1 metre short of his position. He might be able to grab it if you find a way to bridge the gap.
Onick, you’ve firmly planted yourself in the middle of the river using your spear. You’re not going to be washed away so long as you hold it. I don’t think you need to roll for Aid on the Rebel, you’re able to grab him as well – he’s passed out from shock and the choking cold of the water. Sarthel’s rope has landed just 1 metre up stream. How are you going to reach it with one hand on the Rebel and another on the shaft of your spear?
Laguna, you know your strength, and measure up against the river. You’ll have to wade in to the river if you want to help them. I think your partial success means that you can haul in Onick, or the rebel, but not both at once. I’m skipping your second DD as the fiction doesn’t follow from the consequence of your partial success.
Teren, the Knight looks at you curiously “Landservant? The sprite? Be warned friend… it may yet transf’rm once again. It hath been hunting us in its TRUE form. A beast… claws sufficient to rend stone and metal, black wings in the night. A mouth large enough to swallow our horses whole. Baleful eyes of hateful pink in the dark….Not three night hence did it find us in the wood, slaying us in droves, Scalian and Chromian alike.”
Both the Knight and Mirabelle go quiet at the memory. The Crossy looks… uncomfortable, remorseful.
The Knight speaks again, “We struck the beast, and in the melee did dislodge this." She reaches within her breastplate and, using a dark cloth holds forward a small, pink, crystal. Alike to the one hanging in the sky above Chromia.
"Once it had shrunk to this form before us, the girl Mirabelle did petition us to spare it… perhaps you might explain why you Chromians show mercy to such demons?” You hear the challenge in her voice.
Sarthel, I’m not seeing that Telekinetic Strike allows you to roll an extra d6 like Hack and Slash does.
Laguna, it seems like you’re trying to do a baby version of Black Bane that won’t just blow them up? That would make sense to me as a DD+CON. I’m going to say however that you’re going to need to touch them physically for it. If you want to throw an orb of dark energy in near range, that sounds exactly like Black Bane to me. Either way, with your failed DEX roll, you don’t get to do that yet.
We’ve got Sarthel’s successful telekinetic strike for 1 damage, forceful and messy. We’ve got Rankev’s partial success from dodging the attack. We’ve got Laguna’s failed DD+DEX. Onick’s failed Hack and Slash.
So here’s what I think happens.
Rankev , your billowing wizard sleeves fly up in a pathetic defence. Thankfully it’s not a seasoned warrior your facing up against. What happens is that the axe strike doesn’t connect with your body at all, but its blunt edge tears partway through one of your sleeve and gets caught there. You’re now intertwined with each other – a mess of arms and legs “Grr! Damnit get off me you heathen!” .
Laguna you faceplant right behind Rankev as you roll your ankle on the slick stones of the riverbed. You don’t take any damage, but your head rings. Incidentally, from your new vantage point you notice something from across on the other side of the river. You can’t quite make out its form, but it’s big, hiding in the shade of the trees and the shrub. A pair of pink glowing eyes watching your every move.
Sarthel, your deft telekinetic strike blasts true, but your 1 damage is rebuffed by the Rebel’s armour – cheap peasant clothes padded with thick wool. However, the blast is so messy and forceful that it shreds his clothes armour leaving him with nothing but a bare chest and knocks him clear into the river with a loud Wilhelm scream. Rankev, you’ve not got a handaxe lodged in your sleeve, but no rebel accosting you. Feel free to add it to your inventory; it’s got range of close, 1w
It’s at this point that Onick charges in head first! His head must still be ringing from the Catastrophe though. Onick, perhaps it was because your foe who was standing before you just got blasted into the river you’ve mistimed your swing! You recoil at the last second to avoid giving your ally Rankev the pointy end of your spear, but you trip right over the prone Laguna.
Onick, you’ve landed up back in the river! Your heavy armour dragging you down as the water begins to wash you downstream. It might be a struggle to get out by yourself, especially with that heavy armour!
The Rebel begins blubbering around, trying to fight the force of the river but failing. The fear of drowning overcoming him, he starts calling desperately for help! The rest of you start hearing shouting and footsteps coming from a path– did you hear a howl a moment ago too? What do you do?
-----Geography-----
The River is about 20 metres across, and deep enough that you’d be up to your eyes. It’s moving swiftly, fast enough that you’d need some way to help you cross it to avoid simply being swept downstream as Onick is.
The fallen tree covers around 15 metres from your side to the opposing side, and is upstream of Onick and the rebel.
A path lies just beyond the wheelbarrow, on your side of the river, and that where the footfalls and shouting are coming from.
---------------------------
Teren, you recognise the symbol on her blood red cloak. It’s a coat of arms of two crossed hands, grasping one another. They're from a land somewhere in the North, tell me what it was called. You’ve heard that they’re known as the Bloodcloaks in part due to their purification rituals involving blood, and in part due to their wartorn history. Where did you learn this?
Teren, the Knight falls flat on her rear in shock with a yelp, her knife scatters across behind her. She looks at you with wide eyes “Maral Dast! … Declare yourself, creature. Be ye friend or foe?” it’s clear she’s never seen anything like your transformation before.
whoops! Yeah I meant a woman's voice, it's the knight's voice. Muffled from her heavy helmet.
Teren, no defy danger needed at all. The knight looks visibly relieved that it's just a dog, what could have gotten her so on edge?
"No! Please it's just Old Mellen's hound!" The girl runs past the knight and clings to you sobbing.
The knight sheaths her sword "Inlandt de sorre! Behold girl, the cur hath too been changed." She says, cautiously referring to your strange ferret markings. "We should put it out of its misery, lest it turn.... as the sprites did." She draws a small knife and approaches sympathetically.
The Crossie looks indignant at that. Teren, can Crossies speak? Either way, this one's eyes go wide with hope when it sees you. Looks like it knows you're more than just a hound.
You recognise the faint scent of paper and candle wax on the girl. That's right, this is Mirabelle, the chandler's daughter. Not a day older than 10. She used to run errands and messages in the town, and do odd jobs around the Great Library - returning books to shelves, dusting, and so on. She was the fastest runner in the village, no wonder she made it out alive. She ran a few messages between farmhouses for you too Teren.
The knight's armour and speech are strange. Definitely not from Chromia.
If you'd like anything in greater detail here feel free to discern realities or spout lore. But the knight is approaching you now with hunting knife in hand.
Defy Danger works fine for me, the Danger being that Onick gets walloped with the tree! Nice rolling - when are you guys gonna fail something?!
Teren, your dog howl echoes through the valley, the birds going quiet for a moment. You reach a clearing where the girl's screaming has turned to sobbing. You hear a man's muffled voice. You hear something else too, familiar chirping and squeaking…. A Crossie?
The scene before you lies thus: The old windmill churning slowly in the breeze, it's tall and well built, but overgrown with shrubbery and creepers all along it. A crossie in a cage, a little girl crying and trying to free it, a woman in solid armour – a knight - with a red cloak and sword drawn… but she looks like he’s trying to protect the girl – whilst pulling her away from the cage. The Knight is scanning the treeline, looking for some threat. It's clear she heard something, maybe a loud noise, from your direction... maybe your howl?
There’s more here too, a cart with a broken axle, crates full of scavenged goods and supplies, signs of a small encampment behind the windmill.
The Crossie is thrashing about anxiously. This one looks like a plush tree bear with a pair of small pigeon wings on its back. You smell its fear. It looks so soft and so biteable. You’d love to grab it by the scruff and just throttle it.
The girl you’re not sure of, but she smells familiar. Maybe if you got a closer look you’d recognise her.
Sarthel, your dwarven strength is more than enough to throw the Paladin clear. Just in time too, as the colossal tree groans lands across the bank - its topmost branches even reaching across to the other riverbank. You think that, if it took your fancy, you could use it to shimmy across the river safely.
Onick, in your confusion you run right over to Sarthel who is standing right next to you. You see the scene of battle around you, dead bodies, blood, scattered gear, and your friends in peril. What do you do?
Laguna, it’s clear from their actions that the time for talk is over. You manage to place yourself in the path of the rebels just in time before their blows collide with Rankev. Their axe swings hit you instead and they knock you over – you spend your 1 and only hold and are no longer standing in defence of Rankev. Will you be able to get up in time to spare him another blow?
----- Laguna you take 1d6+1 damage-----
Rankev, you blow holes in one of the axe wielding rebels whose axe just bit into Laguna, he slumps over, dead as anything. The remaining one is close enough now that his axe strike is going to hit true. It’s clear he’s willing to die and join all his friends. You’re going to eat damage unless you defy the danger of being struck. You could always engage him in a melee with your Hack and Slash, but you know from experience that if you cast a spell in close quarters like this you’re going to eat an axe blow!
You're both correct. I made a separate move. Your attack was an overwhelming success, but it also has the tags messy and forceful; and that doesn't happen in a vacuum. I'm required to tell you what happens as fiction demands. Also in a personal level, back and forth combat is simply boring - I'm going to do my best to bring every battlefield to life!
in DW the GM gets to make their own moves when everyone looks to you to find out what happens, when the players give you a golden opportunity, and when they roll a 6-. So the GM is not a passive force. You guys are 'looking' at me basically after every post, and giving me golden opportunities up the whazoo!
Hope that clears it up. If you guys are all agreeing that I'm playing too hard, then please let me know. I will say that I am going to make you guys work for it, but I've always wondered what's the point in doing your average level1 goblin-stomp? Everyonr knows how that goes down, let's get into the thick of it straight away!
Looks like the reference to a path got lost to one of my formatting edits! whoops!
Here is some basic geography, more of the geography will unfold as we define it through actions and moves.
-----Geography-----
A river, with the players washed up on the bank. Before them, their scattered belongings and 6 rebels with a wheelbarrow. Make that two corpses, a rebel dying in agony as shadows crawl over his body, and a rebel girl fleeing down the path.
A line of trees flanks the river on the steep bank slopes, dense shrubbery within. A well worn path parts the forest behind the rebels.
I think from your post it sounded like you went through the woods, not the path. The steps are coming from up the path. They won't hear or see you through the thickets, but your doggy hearing and smelling can tell they're trampling down towards your allies. The trampling started from the mill and is now passing you by.
Sarthel, the rebel loading your gear jeers at your cries first "Nothing personal shorty, Landal says we need to hrkk-" then your mental assault hits him. It's more than a love-tap. The power of your telekinetic blast folds him inward, as if a great force was crushing him up like an old piece of parchment. The blast sends him flying into a tree 20 feet away, impacting with such great force that the massive pine begins to groan and splint under the impact. Branches shake, and the enormous trunk beings to fall, right in the direction of Onick's still motionless body.
You notice briefly, as you regain your senses, that the manifestations of the rebels' emotions are jumpy, fragmented, and churning beneath the waves of their psyche. Emotional, no control, easily influenced.... hormonal? It then occurs to you that none of your assailants are older than the age of 16.
A moment of stunned silence passes as the rebels look between each other and Sarthel in horror.
Rankev, your magic missiles - runes of the arcane steaming behind them - sear through the rebel handling the wheelbarrow, which he upends all over himself as he topples over lifelessly.
Teren, as you take the form of Old Man Mellen's Hound, you feel a pinprick of heat in your mind: it feels like the old man and his hound made it out of Chromia alive too. Just like the Old Man, his hound is getting on in years too, you trade your sharp human vision for the old dog's and the world becomes greyer, people look like vague blurry shapes rather than crisp outlines... Your moves are:
* Pick up a scent
* Eat rotten scraps with delight
* Play dead
As you bound through the woods, you hone in on the sharp crying of a girl mixed in with a slow mechanical grinding....The old windmill! Right on the edge of Chromia's borders.
Amidst that, you hear sounds of battle from whence you came, and the trampling of footfalls - dozens of them, coming from down the trail and approaching your comrades back at the river.
Laguna familiar dark energy courses through your veins and out of your hands. Your black bane engulfs another rebel. The shadows spread over their body and in a moment of darkness you hear a wail and the heavy breathing of agony. Still alive, but stained with black energy all over, the rebel writhes in pain and starts muttering what must be prayers in his foreign tongue. He completely drops his woodcutter’s axe and the gear he was holding – which look to be your healing potions. You hear a gentle tinkle as cracks start to form on their fragile glass.
“Sam, Kem!” “Billi! No!!” The other 3 rebels take stock of their dead comrades, with a nod the smallest one - a young girl with fair hair and a dirty face – flees down the path behind them shouting bloody murder in a foreign tongue.
The other two look back at you with dark eyes. They’re resolved. Each of them bites their forefinger and wipe a line of blood down their foreheads “You Chromian monsters!
They charge, axes overhead in a killing blow right at the closest target… Rankev
Sounds good to me. I think when you shapeshift, give me an idea of what you hope to accomplish with the form. Feel free to suggest moves your form might have.
Or since we're taking the angle that it's a specific animal, tell me what that animal did or was known for when you shapeshift.
I'll say that if you get close to the wheelbarrow you'd certainly be strong enough to pull it apart without a roll, but you won't be able to blow it apart from a distance. I don't think your powers allow you to do that.
If you want to Parley, you're going to need leverage. If you're going to intimidate them, you might need a feat of strength or a weapon to do that. These guys don't look the least bit phased by your polite talk, let alone from a Sticky
The sun is shining bright overhead; An otherwise beautiful day if not for the ringing of your head and the cold of the river still clinging to you. You remember flashes of chaos, noise, darkness.
It started with trembling, then the earthquakes. The beautiful yet humble architecture of the Great Library went first, and its ancient knowledge with it. Then the trade quarter, the Temple, the Hall of Elders. A pink light shining from the depths of the earth. In fact, you can see it from here in the form of a colossal crystal hanging in the air above what once was the village.
You probably didn't have much time to react. How did you even end up here, on the banks of one of Chromia's many rivers?
Scattered around you are broken pieces of rubble, wooden planks, a basket here, a few trinkets there.
Your gear is scattered in a heap around you too, it will take a little time to put it all back in order, assess the damage, and set it all to dry.
As the ringing in your ears subsides, you see a few familiar faces scattered around you. A stout dwarf, A blue headed Erze in dark mail, a brightly armoured foreigner, a man in strange robes all sopping wet, another man with the markings of a ferret - assuredly touched by the Valley.
You see a others too, garbed in humble clothes excepting their bold red sashes and bandannas. 6 of them in all, rifling through the scattered belongings and pocketing what they can. From their accents its obvious to you all, but these people aren't from Chromia.
You hear it now, clearly, the shrill cry of a girl in peril from somewhere beyond. The 6 red sashes pay it no attention.
You hear a gagging, retching noise from one. "Hrrk. What in the Eight-Divines is that? "
"That's one of them Stickies - the Ooze people."
"Disgusting."
"Get a move on would ya, anything valuable? Load it up!"
Each of you has what you were wearing (including armour), but the rest of your gear - including your weapons - is being loaded up by three of the rebels into a small wheel barrow on the trail ahead.
What do you do?
--------World Building--------
Onick, what foreign power do the Red Sashed Rebels represent?
Thanks Sarthel, I'll keep your passive ability in mind. When you feel it is relevant, I would suggest you ask me directly what you see with this ability - I will most likely have something better for you.
Your characters may have met before, somewhere other than Chromia, which would allow for some of these more detailed Bonds. But you're free to not use all of your bonds.
This is enough for us all to get started. Gameplay post will be up in the next 24 hours.
As Lewyn has been inactive, I have given his spot to ZenFox42 and his (yet unnamed) Dwarf Psion. Everybody give him a warm welcome!
Zenfox, I need you to do four things.
1.Please respond to the worldbuilding questions below
2.Choose your BONDS with each of the other players
3.Create an alias and post your character sheet there
4.Tell me what your character's name is, and what they were doing in Chromia on the day before the Catastrophe
Zenfox's Psion's Questions
Where do Dwarves hail from, and what makes them different to the typical fantasy dwarf?
Where did your powers come from? Was it genetics, training, or some other-worldly influence?
Not only has no one in your clan ever had a Psion before - no one has. you're one of a kind and your abilities have gotten you into trouble before. Tell me who you're on the run from.
I'm thinking at this stage, if Lewyn doesn't respond by mid week we might just move ahead with 4 players - or I'll choose someone else from recruitment.
I love the enthusiasm guys. It's a personal preference that I prefer minimal backstory with some solid hooks rather than essays, because leaving room for the unexpected to crop up is important in Dungeon World.
Also, going in too deep before we play creates some heavily divergent ideas between players. The important thing is for everyone to agree on the setting and events, and the more detail you give the harder that can be.
As it stands I think this gives me some ideas, but depending on the other answers I might consolidate some of the events and/or characters between backstories.
But fear not, I will say this: I am the type of DM who asks regular questions during gameplay, about how you know things, when you've seen something before, how you know an NPC, etc.
So there'll be plenty of opportunity to delve deep, but it's better to do so as a part of the gameplay :)
This is my favourite part of GMing; where we build our world together, work out bonds, and set our scene.
If you haven’t already, please create your alias and post your character sheet there.
Please answer the following questions for your character.Please feel free to work out bonds amongst yourselves, you will need them before we begin.
After this round of questions establishing world details, I'll ask some targeted ones to get the actual river scene moving.
Don’t feel like you need to write an essay on these, a sentence or two should be fine.
Onick, the Human Paladin
Are there an Order of Paladins? Or are you the only one.
If the humans who lived in Chromia were peaceful and in harmony with nature, what are the humans from the North like?
What do the demons you've fought before look like?
What is your Holy Symbol, and what is your Quest?
Before you left the hermit, they gave you one part of a secret weapon against evil. What was it?
Laguna, the Erze Dark Knight
Are the Erze common in this world? Do they have a society? Where do they live?
How did you come to wield your dark power? Is it common for the Erze, or is this power yours alone?
What do you remember of your past lives, if anything?
Issa was considered special in the valley of Chromia, bearing the symbol of Tormos, God of Truth and Light upon her forehead as a birthmark. What did the Elders of Chromia say was her destiny?
.
Terren of the Hills, the Human Druid
How did the valley of Chromia become such a place of harmony with nature?
What is it like to be a druid in Chromia? Are you revered or eyed suspiciously?
What are the manabeasts, and how do locals interact with them?
Tell me what are the Four Guardian Beasts that protect the valley of Chromia?
Spirits of the forest often manifest as sprites or fluffy creatures to the denizens of Chromia, what are they called? and what purpose do they serve in the valley?
Rankev ‘Power’ Davis’, the Human Wizard
You’ve been trying to unlock the secret of Divine magic, is magic tied to the Gods in this world? Or does it come from someplace else?
How are wizards viewed in this world? Are you the only one? What unique appearance marks someone as a wizard? (Chromatic themes like Gandalf the Grey? Straw hats and blue robes? Etc.)
How do Wizards view the other schools of magic, such as Druidic, Bardic, or Divine?
The Great Library of Chromia was a sacred place for scholars, what piece of unique knowledge did you tender to gain entrance?
Lewyn, the Elf Bard
What are the Elves of Galonde like? What sets them apart as unique among the mortal races.
In Chromia, humans rather than Elves live in harmony with nature. What relationship do Elves have with nature? Hostile? Utilitarian? Or something else…
Is the knowledge and magic you wield something unique to Lewyn? Or do other elves know these arts?
Speaking of which, what is your Bardic Lore? And where or how did you learn it?
