Recap
From last session we learned the lesson “Real strength comes from revealing weakness” and decided to all take a temporary condition to reflect that learning (Hopeful, Curious, and Sympathetic).
New “Learn the Hard way” choice: We all create our destiny, together and never alone
From Reach for Allies – someone wise will answer your questions (Omar)
Omar was a cute boy at a vtube convention, Fen had a cute slinky dress and it as dancing all night long. Adding Fen to the list of Omar’s exs.
Action Phase – Lost Tomb
With Omar’s help, we avoid the worst of it. Jason doesn’t trust him and asked point blank “How do know we can trust you? You work for the pledge.” Omar gave an infuriatingly non-answer. He’s an opportunist not a believer.
Jason could sense Janine wants to say something to him. “I know there’s something going on that you can’t tell me about right now, but when you can. I’m not afraid to hear it.”
She hesitated and didn’t have the words. She handed Jason her research notes. “No matter what, I know you’ll make the right choice when the time comes.” Dash recognized that as some thing Koro said to him as well. She kissed him absentmindedly on the cheek and turned away to put on the new face without him seeing. She walked off, got on the bike and Zahara Said rode off.
From Fen: The thing Omar does that is insufferable. He can’t conceal when he’s bored talking to someone. His bangs fall in front of his face in a way that is adorable if he’s fawning over you, and infuriating you if he’s ignoring you.
Camera sweeping over the mountain montage. Dash, Jason, Koro, and Omar in one team. Aroha and Fen. The groups moved in parallel. The Pouākai flew freely between them. Omar took us to the Manukokākarepō nest. We moved away from the mountain, through the forest and deep gullies.
Omar was obnoxiously competent in finding the way. He was taking queues from Koro, but he’s also got knowledge of the Pledge’s expedition so far.
Koro acted like he’s helpless and asked Dash to carry him, which he did.
We trekked deep into the forest, past ancient trees and through tight gullies. The path squeezed through rocks and continued along a jagged cliff, with sharp rocks stabbing into the sky. From this impossible height much of the valley can be seen. The cave in this precarious position is said to be the nest of Manukokākarepō. This is one of the few places in the valley that is beyond the gaze of the mountain. Clear of the mountain’s dominance, what do you see that has remained hidden for lifetimes?
Old ruins preserved by the altitude. [1 Trouble spent for an Artifact Flashback] Dash realized that there used to be a path that the Tohunga followed. Koro leaned against Dash’s back and breathed into him. Dash could fell the breath move through him and Time is spiral.
It is time, it is a spiral. A new and young Tohunga stands on the highest point of Tane-Nui-Tiwhtiwha, the cliff’s edge in front of her. Next to her lies the body of her mentor, the previous Tohunga of the valley. His lined face bears an expression of peace, and she understands this means he is with their ancestors now. Her hands shake as she feels the wairua, the living soul, in the area. The young Tohunga chants towards the carved face in the cliff. Her voice becomes many, filling the mountain with the sound of her ancestors, of Ikurangi. The cliff face opens, an acceptance from the ancestors. The chant swells, reaching out towards the sky in every direction.
The rest of us heard the wind or chant or some other noise moving across the valley to the mountain, to the cliffside where we are. The paths now are lost. Damanged or unstable.
That’s when Omar recognized Fen from the distance and even though she’s just a spec said “I can see Fen in the distance, I can see how much she misses me.”
Fen looked up and sees his bangs shift “That couldn’t possibly be Omar. What would Disco boy be doing here?”
He moved perfectly and gracefully and lands next to Fen. She yells in surprise “Omar. No!”
He smiled and said “Omar. Yes.”
We reunited and despite herself Fen was admiring how slim (and exposed) Omar’s hips are. She looked to Aroha to ask “should I be this mesmerized?”
Aroha, unimpressed, introduced herself “Hi My name is Aroha, and you must be — Trouble” (Before Omar can say anything).
When Jason and Dash came around the bend, the all hugged and talked about how we know Omar and how remarkable the Pouākai is. As Jason talked about how incredible the Pouākai is, Fen was watching Omar and all the non-sexual comments about the bird were interpret as sexual comments about Omar. “Look at those massive bones, how does it even fly? Look how powerful it’s thrusts are into the sky.” Fen just heard “Look….massive bone…powerful….thrust…”
Omar always demanded attention so we asked him to lead the way.
Precarious paths beset by strong winds crumble along the edges of a cliff, tunnels that lead into shallow caves inevitably open up to the cliff again and its dizzying heights. The wind screams in a constant low roar, overwhelming all senses.
Both wind and mysterious hands have carved out several openings along the stone. These alcoves once held sacred items long gone, while the narrow chasms are filled with the bones of the unworthy.
We saw a woman walking a head of us, impossibly far away.
Jason was looking at the alcoves and several of them have carvings of faces that express complex emotions.
What complex emotions do these evoke for you?
Looks like they are watching someone who they know is going to fail, but hope they learn from it. These are ways to help people move on. Knowing that death isn’t the end and things all return.
The main challenge was to get to the tomb. Omar was helping us, but cannot be trusted.
We had to navigate the crumbling path to reach the tomb itself. The wind was picking up in the distance and it would crash against the mountain soon which would make it even more dangerous. The trees shifted down below as the wind moved through them.
Decipher the Tomb
We faced these threats:
- Slicing Winds – The wind is strong enough to carve stone, braving the crumbling paths will require determination and cunning.
- Awakening Alcoves – The strange openings along the rock hide a pattern. Placing a hand within the alcoves causes the stone to shiver—defying all reason the path shifts and moves to reveal new doorways.
- Pouākai’s Path – Far above a massive eagle flies, its wingspan wide enough to block the sun. Following the hunting pattern of the creature won’t be easy, but doing so might yield a path for others.
Fen remembered that brought something, her classified research notes. There were some patters in them that match the alcoves. She saw Koro starting the pattern and used her notes to confirm them. She works with Koro to complete the pattern. Aroha is picking up on this but she’s resisting this, as she’s resisting behind Tohunga. Fen is delighted to figure out the pattern. “I think this might work. What do you think?” trying to draw her in. Koro meanwhile is never looking at Aroha. Aroha looked at her notes and said “I think you’re right. I think we’ onto something here.” The saw a narrow doorway open and Koro slipped through it and appeared on the other side. We all pass through.
Inside the pathways there are alcoves less damaged by wind and time. They are easier to read. What long lost secret does the alcove offer you?
It’s a branch that looks like one she saw on the mountainside, like a three fingered hand that might hold the nest. Underneath the nest, there is the bone of a Moa. A thick flute made from bone, a Koauau. It is believed that it’s song can summon healing spirits and can aid in birth.
Jason pulled out a collapsible hang glider from his backpack [A set of wartime vehicles repurposed for high-octane action] and leapt into the air and ranging winds following the Pouākai’s Path and seeing what it sees.
What unspoken wisdom does the eagle grant you? You are more than the sum of your fears. 1 Aid.
Inexplicably, Dash saw Koro behind him. braving the Slicing Winds. Dash marked a condition “unreachable”. This requires some very dangerous maneuvers. If Koro did it, we must be able to as well. He squated down to match his stature and see from his perspective. It required a leap of faith, but Koro just pushed Dash to take it and yelled “Dash found it!” It looked like he was pushing him to his death, but it led us on our way. More flirting with Omar ensued.
What secret has the wind carved away to reveal? A hidden path but also a set of keys with faces with expressions similar to the those faces in the alcoves. Koro places them in Dash’s palm. “Protect these for now and return them later.”
[We assembled our die pool (3d6) and rolled a Triumph! Since there’s no Triumph rules for this move, Rae gave us an extra choice]
- Gain significant ground against your Nemesis, erase one mark from the Racing Heart track
- The Tomb whispers a shocking secret to you, gain one Truth and link it to a Facet
- Connect to the Heart of the Tomb for a moment, one of the PCs gains a temporary Tomb Intuition question (Benefit of a Triumph)
It all comes together. Dash leapt and Jason caught him and Koro is there when we arrived. He was talking to the woman in the distance, but when we got there, she was gone.
Truth: A thick mist full of ghostly apparitions, they all walk backwards up the mountain. Linked to the Facet: Past is the Present is the Future, the Tohunga are leading others into and away from the mountain to share the divine as one community, one family.
Racing heart. The mist pours in, The Pledge cannot see the forces working against them but the ghosts send them off in the wrong direction.
Tomb intuition question. What do the future descendants of Ikurangi warn you of?
It was difficult to look away from the mist. We heard them chanting a song that is played backwards. The first time for many of us that we’ve experienced time shifting in other directions.
Navigating the cave was a precarious climb, the wind threatened to send the foolish over the edge and smash them against the rocks far below. But the wind’s howls came to an eerie stop, the silence almost oppressive and on the verge of unnatural. Scattered around were bones of various animals, and some are impossibly large. The ceiling glowed with the light of hundreds of worms, and in the shadows lie the remnants of an old nest. Its long and withered branches were stacked to create a large bed. Piled in a corner were gnawed human bones left over from some long past garish feast. A skull stared at all of us, beckoning them closer.
On the wall there was a huge cloak covered in bird feathers. Some of the extinct, some never identified. In the middle is a strip of long black feathers that shine in the light. The cloak of the bird witch.
Koro pushed it aside and behind this covering, on a shelf carved with great care into the wall, there lied the skeletal remains of a man. Great respect had been shown to him in his placement, and in the centuries of old flowers that cover the pristine bone.
Omar’s Betaryal?
Omar started making weird sounds like he was gasping for breath. He was panicking. He reached out to Fen. From the corner of his eyes the pearlescent goo emerged and as his body was wracked with pain. He cried out “No! Please. Not yet.”
Fen reached out and says “What do you need?”
“Please don’t let her take me, don’t let me disappear.”
Fen asked our new intuition question What do the future descendants of Ikurangi warn you of? Several people across different time periods. One of the steped forward, an older Aroha that has fully accepted her destiny as Tohunga. “You cannot let the voracious divine feed and feast on what belongs to us. You cannot allow Lo-Atkins hunger feed upon what is ours. She sees a vision of the ooze coming out of the Omar will claim the cloak for his own.”
Fen pushed Omar off the ledge to keep him away from the cloak. [Face an Enemy, mixed result]
Omar’s teeth are covered in goo, and sharpen. He would have bit into Fen and infected her, but she flashed back to “Narrate when you first realized you saw the world and its problems differently from everyone else around you.” She remembered a time when a boy Gregory picked on her in school but always hid it. She asked her dad what to do and he turned he question around. She realized that she could fight just as dirty. Gregory tripped on his shoelace and broke his two front teeth, it was shame. She saw the bite coming, evaded it and twisted his arm back and keep him at bay.
[Chose these options]
- Get through to them for a moment, they’ll choose to be merciful or reveal a weakness. To break the connection between Omar and Lo-Adkins Fen asked “Omar, do you want to dance all night?” She flirts with him to remind him of himself. He reaches for Fen and holds her close in a moment of vulnerability. He was very gentle and said “Just keep me here with you. Just don’t let go of me…not until we have that dance” Started gentled but turned sleazy by the end. His eyes turned purple again and Fen could hear Lo-Adkins whispering to him. Here voice is hollowed out. “You don’t have to be alone any more. We can all be here together. I’ll never let you die alone Omar.” Fen says “I’m right here Omar” and he relaxes against her.
- They reveal a harrowing clue, gain one Truth. They had ropped down on a ledge that used to be connected to the cave above. Sees a cave drawing of men climbing a mountain, they leave behind a scared young girl who watches alone.
Omar is not a threat but only when Fen holds him close.
Up top, Jason and Dash cried out in surprise, but realized Fen was trying to keep the cloak safe from Lo-Atkins. Jason said “you should wear it Dash”. Koro says Dash is a little small but he should go for it.
The racing heart. We see another helicopter touch down by the village and the cops pour out but they have different uniforms on. Inside the helicopter is Emily Lo-Adkins. She’s distracted by hearing Omar says “I don’t want to go.” Zahira says “focus on the prize” and Emily says “You’re right. Let’s take what we can from the villagers” as the cops began corralling them all into the center of the village.
