Conductor: Cat McDonald
Rangers: Tom Lomell, Cris Viana, Sophie Lagacé, Sean Nittner
System: Rangers of a Broken World
As the text for Rangers of a Broken World is getting close to complete, we scheduled another internal game to see how the mechanics have come along. There is design feedback that will go to Cat directly, but this is just my personal recap of the story.
Rangers
Here’s the Rangers we decide to play:
Worrysome (they/them) the Windswept Cavalier (played by Sean)
Keys: Truth, Sacrifice, Suffering, Rebirth, Connection.
Signature Spell: Hoarfrost Silence
Desdemona (she/her) the Tidal Navigator (played by Sophie)
Keys: Brave, Curious, Restless, Romantic, Impatient
Signature spell: Distant Mirage
Cain Stowbridge (he/him) the Enduring Legionnaire (played by Tom)
Keys: Vengeful, Honorbound, Silent, Battle-scarred, Death March
Signature Spell: Thundering Gauntlet
Samira (she/her) the Wandering Magus (played by Cris)
Keys love, growth, family, harmony, guide
Signature: Timeless Sands
Our Broken World
In our last adventure we had just fished a corrupted artifact out of a volcano. Someone tried to destroy it by throwing it into the fires, but all that did was cause earthquakes and toxic fumes. We unearthed the melted artifact but now had to find a place to dispose of it. In the meantime we carried in a cauldron hung from two poles that formed a makeshift stretcher.
We continued our trek down from the volcano into the jungle of the Boiling Hills, filled with foothills and low volcanos along the choral coast. Within it was a town of Brighgbloom where we intended to find respite and place to unburden ourselves of the corrupted artifact.
Instead we found a town that seemed worn down by the sun. Everyone moved lethargically and shortly after we arrived Hawthorn, a shrine maiden to the weather deities (and Worrysome’s ex-partner) approached us to tell us that some blight had overtake the town,
It stated about a week ago, after the great earthquake. One by one everyone in town is getting sick. They have fevers, lost their strength, and some are seeing ghosts.
Hawthorn took us to see Bitan, a young boy whose eyes were wet with tears. He groaned from pain in his stomach and chest, and spoke of specters that were coming for him.
Spell notes of in Bright Bloom: People, Sorrow, Strain, Sun, Water.
Finding Sorrow
Samira cast a spell to diagnose the boy Bitan. Finding (from her spell notes) Sorrow (from Bright Bloom) [4 Scatter]. As the ground shivered Samira saw sand roll off the boy on to the bed and down between the floorboards below. When asked what as beneath us, Hawthorn told us there was a legend of something called the Buried Mirror. Additionally:
- Worrysome (Survival check) knew there were lava tubes running beneath most of the Boiling Hills, and
- Desdemona (Navigate check) heard of the sea being compared to a mirror and wondered if that might be a great body of water.
Cain knows the winding ways of labyrinths and could lead us to the underground tunnels. But first he raised his gauntlet into the air with lightning crackling around it and shouted “Spirits, reveal yourselves!” (Spirits check). When he heard no response he declared there were no spirits present, and that people must be hallucinating. He also terrified Bitan and his family in the process!
Preparing for the journey
Cain on speaks when needed, preferring to knowingly blink at people instead, but when Worrysome suggested we split the party to send some below to the tunnels and leave others here to tend to the sick he vehemently protested.
Desdemona (Humanity check) noticed that everyone in the area appeared sick (including animals) except the shrine maidens.
We realized that Hawthorn has been holding back, and Worrysome knew from experience that she was very good at holding back negative emotions. They employed her to “Speak true” and share what she knew.
“I hadn’t realized that we weren’t getting sick, but I don’t know why. We maintain the shrine to show gratitude to the rain god.”
After talking with her we realized the shrine maidens drank rainwater instead of well water. That must be why they had not be robbed of their heath. To the lava tubes!
A Noxious Fissure
We traveled into the lava tubes and discovered a large body of water but instead of being clear and reflective it was discolored and murky. The smell of the water was sulfurous and sickly.
Hidden, Secret, Poison, Fissure, Steam, Wounded (Buried Mirror) Hidden, Secret, Poison, Fissure, Steam, Wounded (Buried Mirror)
Worrysome stretched back the string of their bow, notched and arrow, and as it flew cast the spell Poison’s (environment) Journey (personal spell notes) [2 Scatter]. The arrow landed on the surface of the water and pointed to a place where the water was bubbling and a crack in the earth where toxic fumes were coming from.
Samira and Desdemona worked together to create a spell chord Moving Lifting Poison to create an air bubble around us that pushes the poison away from us so we could enter the fissure.
The deeper we went however, the works the air became and when Worrysome examined the fumes, they determined they were natural in origin, not some magic corruption. This must have been trapped gasses that were released when the earth shook!
Perfect Protection, Rallying the Wounded Heart
Together the four rangers combined their efforts into one great spell [20 scatter].
Samira started chanting a Perfect wordless rhythm that shows constellations in the sky.
Desdemona Rallied a whirlwind of air currents to the time of the shanty.
Worrysome breathed the toxic fumes into their Heart and then blew like bellows sending it back into the earth..
Cain stood between the three us guiding the whirlwind to send the fumes back into the fissure. The constellations grew brighter and brighter and then lighting arced from them to Cain’s gauntlet turning him to stone. From him the stone pathway moved outward until it reached the fissure and closed it, Protecting the Wounded Mirror from the fumes. Lightning struck again, welding the fissure shut and Cain returned to flesh!
Rest and Recovery
Having solved one of the major problems in the area, we were all quite drained (most our essence scattered into the world). We headed back to the town to see that the water supply was still contaminated (at least it wasn’t getting worse) but the shrine maidens were collecting rain water for everyone in the town that they could.
We each went about our own ways of connecting to the people and and the land.
Worrysome mounted Thunor and flew into the air to get fresh air. They were able to see all the surroundings and feel incredibly powerful being so high in the air. The noticed animals are acting strangely. Everything in this area is still sick.
Desdemona spent time writing notes on the events of the day and then sought out dinner. In the pub people realized that if the water was poison the beer is still good! Someone had taken the rain water and turned it into soup! Desdemona drank and sang with the people there! She heard of local legends about an ancient warlord from before the cataclysm. His tactician Raindrop Regina, a powerful Noble Demon that is still around. The Warlord conquered the whole region before laying down his arms. Regina is rumored to still be around. Also, lots of songs about storms and weather.
Samira could not stop thinking of the boy. As someone who comes from the desert, she knew how to purify the water and created a filter to make some of the water potable again. A few of the villagers made slight improvements on the design and together they got the village to place where they can get by.
Cain went to the shrine where the corrupted artifact was held and stood silent watch over it. He closed all windows and doors to block out the sounds of merriment. Standing by cauldron of corrupted slag he contemplated the fact that you cannot eradicate evil, only contain it. He considered engineering plans and surveys the room filled with banners marked with holy symbols and learned about what’s important to the people of Bright Bloom. Lots of blue banners in celebration of the rain god…but they seem strangely like an army’s banners.
In the morning, the Rangers regrouped to discuss what to do. Cain talks to the shrine maiden about the military banners and determines they are part of the protective warding. The army no longer exist but the memory of the tactician does. He tells Worrysome that the evil must be contained.
Spell words for the corrupted slag: Corruption, Provocation, Violent, Shapeless
Raindrop Regina
Having heard rumors of her great powers we sought out the Noble Demon Raindrop Regina. Desdemona found that she lives in a place called Mangrove Hall and she led us to find the swampy area surrounded by towering mangroves whose roots extended above the ground to wrap around each other.
We found Regina, a translucent phantom that sits by a mirror, her voice bubbling like a stream. Beside her in the room was a game board, ready for setup.
She told us that she had no interest in helping humanity but if we could best her she would give them her aid regardless.
We entered a “redirect” contest and bested her by winning the game at her table (and thus her respect). Worrysome stole a piece so they were in the doghouse!
The Crisis was ended with another great spell: Command a Perfect Genius Victory!
Regina kissed a pawn and handed it to Samira. “Drop this in the water and it should be fine.”
Ooh, I’m looking this game up now.