GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Dale Horstman, Matthew Klein
System: The Shadow of Yesterday
“They have Aphrita” the last words received by lantern light from the Khale ship. Meaningless to most of the crew, but to the heroes it meant she was sill alive.
Late at night and the Bloodbark was quiet. The crew stood on the deck, hoping that they would evade the Raven’s Ghost in the night but fearing they would not. Lanterns were hooded and everyone made an effort to speak in hushed tones. When Pwyll dropped a crate everyone flinched at the noise. A few of the crew (notably not Evelina, who was just staring off into the distance trying to make sense of what happened with Aonghüs) were grumbling at the choice to keep moving east and thought it would be smart to change course in the night and throw off their pursuers.
Time to connect
Haka and Tamarin, led by lanternlight went into the hold to visit Aonghüs and find out how we was doing. “Why are you in there?” Tamarin asked. She had see him being taken down, but didn’t know why.
“I’m a danger to the crew” Aonghüs said through the door. “You should be in there too” and he opened the door. Realizing he hadn’t been locked up after all.
The took a chance to catch up. Tamarin told them about Bowdyn’s affliction and how precarious a situation they were all in. Everyone shared what they knew as they passed a spliff around and smoked in the darkness, meager shadows casting off everyone by Haka.
In the hold they could not the the flash or hear the bang of cannon fire, but the felt the horrible shaking as it tore into the ship and ripped parts of it into flinders. A crate fell on Tamrin and crushed her leg. Bruises don’t show through fur, but this one would still be bad. The lantern fell of the hook and crashed on the ground, starting a small fire that Haka doused, but was burned in the process. The moved as quickly as they could in the dark to get to the deck but Tamarin was battered more on the way to the top.
Once outside they could see the crew moving into action. Evelina was at the helm while Captain Blackmane was coordinating the crew from the deck. Bowdyn was loading gunpowder and many of the crew were trying to out out the fire that had started on deck.
Naval Combat
I decided to use 10 minute turns for naval combat, which would give players the ability to accomplish one significant action and then could have other roleplaying moments added in. This served my purposes well and meant that cannon fire was only happening every 20 minutes (one turn to load and one to fire) which seemed like the right cadence. Here were the naval actions I offered up:
Some of these required being in a particular place or having particular circumstances (you can’t intimidate an enemy that can’t see you, you can’t ram unless the ship is in front of you, etc). The ship started with the following problems:
- Fire on the deck.
- Two cannons damaged (the bracing for them destroyed in the cannon fire).
- Very little idea where their attacker was (somewhere to the south, but that was about it, they were cloaked in shadows).
[TURN 1]
Aonghüs ran to the fire with a bucket of sand in each hand and began dousing in (alongside Deslin). They made short work of the fire (I made a 4-tick clock but he rolled a 4, so Aonghüs put it out in one round).
Tamarin ran to the railing and tried to spy their attackers. She not only saw signs of them (a few flashes of torch light that escaped the shadows and moonlight reflecting off the water breaking against the ship. She also spotted a cloaked figure with a lantern running behind the aft castle.
Haka went to the wheel and tried to convince Evelina to turn north. “It’s the bet way to avoid fire, we’ll give them a smaller target.” Evelina liked the idea, she really did, but she wasn’t moved. The captain was down on the main deck loading cannons. If she turned now and the captain lost her shot, there would be hell to pay.
Tamarin grabbed Elsha and told her to follow. Elsha was hesitant (she didn’t want to abandon her post) but Aonghüs offered to work the rigging for her, so she followed after Tamarin. The got to the aft of the boat and saw the cloaked figure with their lantern on the railing, starting to send signals.
Tamarin yelled to get the spy’s attention and when the turned and the hood fell, she recognized the face of Isabel the Quartermaster! “So you’re the spy!” Tamarin threatened to reveal her but didn’t physically try to stop her.
Isabel was disheartened to be caught, but not dissuaded “Are you going to stop me, or will you let me try to get help?”
“I’m not going to stop you, but I’m going to tell everyone, and when this is all done, there will be hell to pay.” Tamarin sent Elsha (who until this point was frozen in surprise) to go inform the captain and she headed the the aft castle to let Evelina know. She left Isabel to send her message, for whatever good it would do.
[TURN 2]
Aonghüs saw the captain on the deck and paused in his action. “Captain I want to help but if you send me back the brig, I’ll follow you orders.”
She stared at his shadow for a moment then back to him and thrust a barrel of gunpowder into his hands “You won’t do me any good in the hold. Bring this to the gunners.” That was as close as she was going to get to telling Aonghüs he was part of the crew. Just as he was about to leave Elsha ran up, almost out of breath and yelled “Captain, Isabel is the spy!”
Aonghüs dropped off the gun powder and set about with his carpentry skills to build a makeshift frame, then cribbed and leveraged the cannon onto it so it could be used again.
Haka kept working to convince Evelina to change course, this time with Tamarin’s help. “Okay, wait till she fires the cannons, then tack hard north. This time it worked and the first mate agreed to this plan of insubordination. He yells over the forecastle “We’re turning north!”
Tamarin also shared that Isabel was the spy and how they might soon have the Sea Serpent on their tail as well. They work together to call on the deck crew the pull in the rigging and get ready to tack hard.
As they do, many of the crew are caught off guard and Merna nearly goes overboard, but Aonghüs catches her!
Blackman looks up at Haka and moves swiftly from the deck onto the castle, intent to have words with her first mate.
[TURN 3]
Aonghüs sees there’s no one coordinating the crew, so he sings a song of joy “A pirates life is a happy life” to fill the crew with hope and purpose. It works. Bowdyn starting singing along and soon most of the crew joins in.
Tamarin didn’t want to be any part of what was going to happen with Captain Blackmane so she scampered back to the railing to see if she could catch another glimpse of the Raven’s Ghost. She not only spotted the ship (the strange swirly shadows now somewhat discernable in the thin sliver of moonlight) she also spotted a flashing of lantern signals that she couldn’t decipher but at least could recognize as the Sea Serpent). Finally she spotted that Aonghüs’s shadow swept across the deck like someone had swung a lantern behind him to make his shadow sweep the deck…but everyone else’s shadows remain unchanged. “Aonghüs, your shadow!”
Haka stands in between Evelina and Blackmane and tells the captain it was their idea to turn north. Blackmane was about to toss Haka down to the main deck below, but Haka’s reasoning slows her hand “This was the right move, they are going to shoot past us. And look, we dodged their cannon fire by changing course.”
The captain released her grip on Haka’s collar and looked down at the crew singing Aonghüs’ song, and more importantly, alive. She towered over Evelina. “First mate, I’m relieving you of the helm. Head down to help the crew.”
[TURN 4]
Aonghüs told the captain “I believe they are using our shadows to follow the Bloodbark. Will you let this cursed man take a boat so we no longer draw their fire? I’m doing this to save the ship.” Blackmane could tell Aonghüs was making a sacrifice her to help her crew, but she had to decide in that moment if she would praise him for this bravery or curse him for leading her enemies to her. She put her hand on his shoulder and told him he’d always be welcome on board and then called down to the crew “Prepare a boat to launch portside!”
As they prepared the boat Tamarin offered Bowdyn the chance to come with them. Leaving might reduce the danger for the crew but it also means he wouldn’t be there to help them. Aonghüs told him he was leaving the crew because he loved them. Bowdyn was torn, but decided to stay. He took Tamarin’s hand and held it firm, telling her that she was a good friend. As he did she felt the pressure of something sharp, poking through his skin (the crystals growing beneath).
Meanwhile Isabel approached Haka with a lantern (as a peace offering, not a weapon). “I suppose it was a bit of the pot calling the kettle black for me to accuse you of being a spy… I did what I did because I’m trying to stop your people from killing mine. There’s no place for me on this ship any longer. If you’re leaving, can I come with you?”
Haka wasn’t sure what traveling with Isabel would mean, but she did know the Khale signals better than Haka and she agreed to go bound if they wanted. When the approached the rest of the group with the plan Aonghüs lambasted Isabel as a traitor and bound her tightly. He accused her of betraying her crew and she accused him of betraying all of Khale. Ugly words, but they both had a measure of respect for the other.
Tamarin looked as though she was going to turn away from Isabel and then grabbed a lantern (Haka had collected many), spun around and clocked her with it!
As they were going to leave Aonghüs wondered if he’d welcome back in the future and Deslin (who had overheard) reassured him that being on the ship wasn’t what mattered and no matter where he went, he was a member of the Bloodbark tribe.
Adrift a sea
Once the were lowered into the water and made some distance from the Bloodbark, Aonghüs untied Isabell (that and calling her a traitor had been for show). They sounds of the ship were eventually overtaken by the sounds of water lapping against the boat as the got further away. Then suddenly there were flashes of lights and the thundering of cannons, both ships firing on each other, but too far away to tell how either of them fared.
The discussed what to do for a time. Try to catch the Raven’s Ghost? It was moving too fast. Row south for the shore? Possibly, but they’d have to wait till daylight to even know where they were going. Eventually they decided to signal to the Sea Serpent and try to be picked up by them. They could perhaps broker a peace between the Serpent and the Bloodbark, and help them both destroy the Ghost.
They kept themselves in total darkness so they cast no shadows and allowed Isabell to send a lantern signal, but her flashes were too fast for Haka to discern. They did understand the repones however which was just the simple Flash, Pause, Flash, Flash. “Message Received”.
They left the lantern facing forward to reveal their location and less than an hour later the Sea Serpent was upon them, with Newlyn of the Umbra Tribe standing eagerly at the prow.
Aonghüs called out to him “Cousin!”
Newlyn called back in surprise “Aonghüs?”
Aonghüs turned to Isabell “These are my friends. I’ll put in a good word for you.” (the same offer she had made to him on the Bloodbark).
As the were pulled into the boat Aonghüs asked for permission to come aboard was greeted as welcome cousin.
Tamarin Spear-Breaker was welcomed on board as a companion of Aonghüs and for her great deeds, but the crew’s disposition was bittersweet. The also reminded her of the missing Aphrita.
Haka was greeted with suspicion, or would have been if Aonghüs hadn’t vouched for them. so met with…delayed suspicion. [Tagging that key of the outcast!]
Isabell was welcomed as one of the tribe…because she was. She removed the jacket that she always wore to reveal the tattoo of the Umbra Tribe on her arm. Aonghüs’ opinion of her once again was improved.
Aonghüs gave Newlyn good directions based on the Blookbark’s last know course and they continued to sail through the night hoping they would spot one of the ships at daybreak.
It was well past minute and everyone should have slept, but instead Haka was mixing herbal remedies to tend to Tamarin’s wounds, while shrugging off the blow they had received from the lantern.
Aonghüs stayed up late reminiscing with Newlyn, who wanted to talk about good old times but couldn’t quote get his mind off the fact that his spy on the Bloodbark was done and now he was never sure he’d capture the ship or get the Stone of Stars.
Aonghüs’ shadow began to shift and loom over Newlyn…
Aboard the Raven’s Ghost
Sorcerer Zedwick looked into his shadowy pool and saw the rival commander Newlyn alone, and vulnerable. He contemplated his next action, but when he heard the sounds of heavy metal books coming down the steps into his hold he waved his hand over the pool and it went black once more.
Commander Priya looked uncomfortable in the darkness “Have your prey gotten us closer to capturing the Khalish Commander?”
“No, my liege.” Zedwick lied. “They must have determined my methods and are hiding themselves from my shadows. We’ll have to continue hunting the Bloodbark with more mundane methods.”
Thoughts on the game
At the start of the session I told the players who only had one key to take a second one. In Tamarin’s case, since she already had two, I said take an advance. The reason for this is that I felt like the characters with only one key (Haka’s Key of the Mission and Aonghüs’ Key of the Lost Child) were really constraining and didn’t give a lot of opportunities to get XP. So I arbitrarily said they should all take another Key. I just think it will be more fun if the character have multiple things they are going after. Haka took Key of the Outside (everyone always suspecting him for being Ammeni) and Aonghüs took Key of the Tribe. He was now part of the Bloodbark tribe. This paid off a lot, as both keys were hit a few times in the session. I also loved they players claiming XP by taking coins from a big pike in the center of the table!
The confrontation between Tamarin and Isabell was great. Both convinced they were right, both allowing the other to make their choice and reap the consequences.
We noted that although the cannon fire on the ship was bad, it did help them avoid a lot of uncomfortable conversations (like “what’s up with those shadows?”) so the heroes felt a bit of relief getting off the Bloodbark, even though it meant leaving friends behind.
At the end of the game I asked what they wanted to do next and the consensus was to catch the Raven’s Ghost and rescue Aphrita. I think the next time one of their shadows is animated, Tamarin can use her Secret of Know Capabilities to determine the where the spell is coming from and make their way to the Ghost!
