GM: Stras Acimovic
Players: Jahmal “Mad Jay” Brown, April Walsh, Jeremiah Frye, Sean Nittner
System: Spell and Blade by Stras Acimovic
Well, I started a wiki. Hah! It’s still pretty bare bones but now when an NPC comes up in game I can add them to the list and hopefully we won’t forget them.
Since Jay couldn’t make last session, we flashed back a week for him to do Town Phase. starting with
Return to the Wizards Tower
Arcanix Zahrana’s tower is an imposing stone edifice constantly (and struck by) lightning. There are canine constructs that guard the door, but know to let the apprentice pass.
Kormel found his wizard in the kitchen wearing a glove with long thin claws. She was scratching away at a piece of paper, performing some calculation when he arrived.
The apprentice entered, excited to tell his mentor about all his exploits, including injecting a second Aetheric Suspension and carrying not one but two other people with his well-used air resonance greaves.
As soon as a he mention that, Zahara stopped him in his tracks and told him he had to sit down so she could inspect him. She analized his legs and the circuitry implanted in them. First with concern, then with surprise, then wonder. “Dragons consume eight or nine tons of ore per years and they naturally build circuity within them, but we’re not dragons and we have to approximate what they do with surgery. The wiring in your legs has extended beyond their previous configuration.” She shook her head in awe “The last person who used these to do that never walked again.”
That phrase sat with Kormel for a bit. Not the never walking again, clearly he was amazing, some kind of prodigy, but he “last person”. These boots weren’t new. Did he read some where that they were made by Zaganeon Skybreaker?
When it came time to report on the actual mission, picking up supplies from the traders, Kormel had to report he forgot all about it. Saving people was more important.
“So what do you plan to do now?” Zhaara asked.
“Well…I should hit the books and study more, but…I’d rather go inspect the ancient tower we found under the ice. Zahara asked about it’s location as was once again lost in her own research and calculations. She did know know of the tower because Sky Mirror Lake has been covered over since before she arrived. She was also surprised to hear about the Kadr Hakar, as they were far north of their normal hunting grounds. But as she mumbled to herself about it, Kormel was sure she had some ideas.
Before he headed out she equipped him with a new apparatus, the Seven Circuit Claw:
When you’ve got it, spend it
Kormel traveled to Rul and found out his friends had left him a package… a pouch of 10 coin. That was a small fortune. He then went and immediately began spending it at the Blue Barrel Inn trying drinks he had never before (this whiskey is *cough* great, am I right *cough*cough*?) and sharing them with everyone in the Inn.
Late at night after most had gone to bed, a rugged traveler that would have normally kept to himself, but who had drunk enough to become loquacious shared some things he had seen. “It’s impossible to see from this city at night because there are too many lights here, but when I was traveling I saw sky sparks. I tell you, soon there will be a Starfall, and whoever gets to the landing site first will get a load of star metal!
The next day, Kormel stocked up on supplies and the rest of his oathbound adventurers returned. We met at the Blue Barrel and shared what we had learned. Gar asked Kormel about the seal, and Skanya tried to recreate it as best as she could (something with apples, right?). It was not Zhaara’s seal, but it was certainly related, from the same heraldic family for sure. Could it be Zaganeon? Is he still alive? If so he must be a hundred years old, but maybe wizards live that long? Wasn’t he said to be the arch rival of the Red Queen?
So much to do, so little time
We wanted to inspect the tower, to ask about the seal, to find out where the starfall would be… so many things to choose from, but we decided to stick with the plan and head to the ancient tower.
Loddi lead the way, with Nyx pulling a sled and he retraced our path to Sky Mirror Lake flawlessly. On the way we spotted reindeer with crystal horns. Normal enough, except that they were far off their normal path. This time of year they would normally be much further south.
Loddi whispered to the reindeer and watched their posturing with his keen senses. The had two bucks on watch, which they would normally only do if a predator (a non-human predator) was in the area. Nyx was downwind from them, so it was something else that they were wary of.
Late in the day we made it to the ice and began picking through it to make a tunnel to the tower. The combination of Rulgara’s strong arms and Skanya’s salt made their way through the ice, but because we wanted to make a slope rather than a straight shot down, it took the rest of the day to finish.
Camp Time
We made camp (Skanya had a tent, she wasn’t tough like Loddi) and unwrapped our various vittles. Skanya had sandwiches made by her father, no longer with the crusts cut off but Gar remembered a time not that long ago when they were. Gar had fresh venison. Loddi chewed hard through tough jerky. Kormel brought out stew cubes. Nom.
Loddi looked Skanya right int he eye and said, with all seriousness “Are you always this excitable?”
Skanya cocked her head for a bit “Well, isn’t there a lot be excited about? Wise Ones with giant turtles, not one but two frozen lakes with things buried beneath them, the Red Queen on adventures, the magical storms, the Kadr Hakar, titans at the line. I can’t keep it all straight.”
Rulgara smiled and confirmed “There are a lot of exciting things going on, but even if there weren’t, my sister would find a way to make them interesting.”
Skanya looked to Kormel and remembered many of their capers together, and smiled.
During camp we trained each other. Rulgara trained Skanya to attune “You have to quiet your thoughts.” Skanya tried but “I have so many thoughts!”
Outside Kormel was showing Loddi the steps to sneak up on someone. He wasn’t a mentor or had any curriculum so the practice was all hands on, and his guidance was a stream of consciousness, giving notes as he noticed things.
At the end of their practice Loddi noticed something far away (thanks keen senses). The shape of a shadow a mile away, watching them. Loddi waved and the shadow crouched down, still watching. Kormel used his mystic sight and tried to study the shadow but it was too far away for him to a signature from it. When they looked away and looked back it was gone!
Entering the Tower of the Ancients
We pulled the tarp off the hole Gar had made and finished the work to find window in the tower that was 10′ below the surface. The building was made of green stone and the window was a dark gap in the stone that, while frosted, seemed to have prevented water from flooding the room.
Before we went in, Skanya remembered that Kormel didn’t have protection from Dream offered by the Wise One. She grabbed her friend and said “We must swear and oath to protect each other! I swear to hide us from the Dream.” We back tracked to the ground (oaths are sworn by cutting yourself and bleeding into the ground) and the rest of our oaths were sworn.
- Kormel swore to stand between us and ancient magics.
- Loddi swore to protect us from traps and strange environs that we might find within.
- Rulgara swore to carve a path foward.
Entrance
The first “room” we entered was semi-circular and had these features:
- Green stone walks that were smooth as silk.
- A celling that we could see through (one way mirror?). One upon a time when it was not buried in the ice, you could have seen the stars.
- On the ceiling was carved a pattern of pathways that never repeated.
- In the center of the room a cylinder hung in the air, unsupported by anything we could detect. The cylinder was tapered at both ends to a fine point. If it was some kind of viewing device, we didn’t have the correct eyes to use it. Nor could we move it (both Gar and Skanya tried).
- On the walls were desks that seemed to have been extruded from the wall rather than built. Giant slabs with no legs, but with plenty of strange curious on them (we looted several!)
- There was a “door” opposite the window we entered from but it had no handle, no hinges, or even seams that we could see.
- In front of the door was a cylinder that rose from the ground like a tube of lipstick, diagonally slanted at the top.
We saw strange items and started digging through them, finding these artifacts:
- A metal cylinder with no seams. When twisted the right way however a diagonal seem appeared and it came apart revealing that it was hollow within and lined with silver. A perfect air tight and water tight container. Perhaps hit could hold maps or charts? (Rulgara)
- A glass panel Loddi recognized as Solstice Glass that allows someone looking through it to look at an eclipse safety as well as peer through other environmental hazards. Loddi’s tribe had a tiny piece of this that was set as a monocle to look through, he had a whole pane, as long as his forearm! (Loddi)
- A small cylinder with a liquid inside, when twisted and applied to a surface it left a mark (like a pen) but the liquid never diminished and the marking could not be removed. (Skanya)
- Skanya’s amethyst eye glowed purple around a sphere that had something floating inside it, which pointed unerringly in the same direction…up! So she grabbed that as well (Skanya)
- Gar also found star silver, metal that was completely neutral in temperature and could never be heated or cooled. How useful would that be when smithing! (Rulgara)
- Kormel deigned not to search through these small trinkets, he was looking for the big haul!
Kormel did try to open the door, inspecting it with his Seven Circuit Claw. As he proved the magic within, he felt it proving him right back, and trying to invade him. With powerful force of will he resisted the corruption, but Skanya was terrified that without a charm, he was defenseless here.
She performed a short ritual and called upon the blessing of Akta to protect him in this place. [Remember for next session, he has Akta’s blessing of protection]
Seeing that magic was dangerous to use in this place Loddi and Skanya set to understanding this mechanism through more mundane means. Loddi’s keen senses saw that under the ice (which had frosted over the cylinder) there was a handprint but the hand only had four fingers.
Skanya breathed hot air over the ice to melt it slightly and then rigged her glove so that her pinky was tied back behind her ring finger. And it worked. The door opened. Hah. Skanya, Four Fingers! Still not as bad ass as Vadra Three-Finger, but pretty cool.
There are Eight Lights
In the next room there was eight plinths and each had a foot and a half tall titan made of orange light. Some of them were still images, depicting titans that had destroyed, apparently run through by star metal shafts.
Sidebar: A few things that Iskani know, or at least have heard rumors of. First, the Red Queen can call shafts of star metal from the sky and they plummet to the earth with titanic force. Second, there is a line of star metal shafts in the north where the Red Queen said “I can protect people no further than this”. Some people still decide to live beyond the line, but they do so at their own peril. So the rumor we heard about a titan crossing the line was literally a line of star metal shafts. How freaking cool. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming…
Other images were in motion, showing the titans moving, and the area just around them. In the ceiling a black half-sphere protruded. At the back of the room was a hatch in the floor. Something like this, but orange
Kormel stepped forward and a errant-knight of orange light appeared. As tall as any of us and blocking the way.
Rulgara didn’t hesitate, she cut through the knight with her star metal sword. It cleaved the light and the particles of orange scattered and shifted hue. The arm was cleaved, but moments later it was redrawn in light. The knight caught her blade and held it fast!
Skanya tried to look through the Eye of Akta at the knight to learn it’s properties, but the suddenly stopped working. She held it out, closed her eyes, and saw…nothing.
Kormel attuned his mystic sigh and pushed himself to understand the many auras glowing in front of him. Then he saw it! The orange light was coming from the black sphere in the ceiling!
Equipped with this knowledge, Loddi fired an arrow at the sphere. It would have been caught by the errant knight of light, but since it held Gar’s sword fast, she used that connection to lever the knight so he couldn’t block the blow [Resisting]. The sphere shattered and the errant knight winked out of existence.
We inspected the plinths and found the source of those images were rings that were set into the plinth. When Loddi picked one up, the image winked out of existence but when he put the ring on it once again appeared, this time floating above his hand.
We noticed one of the animated images changed, depicting a shaft running it through. Was our Red Queen fighting the titans even now? And were we watching the fight from far away?
Rulgara put on one of the rings and attuned to it perfectly. She knew exactly the location of the titan (weeks away, but she knew the distance within a hairs breadth) and she also knew that the ring was connected to something down deep in the tower called the “Key”.
Skanya grabbed a ring as well. Not only did she want to be like her sister, but how cool is that?
Once we had collected the treasures of this room, Loddi opened the hatch in the floor and we saw a ladder that seemed to be made of more ledges that were extruded from the wall rather than built and put in place.
Oh no, Loddi!
We clamed down into a room with two open doorways (and 12 closed ones we could not open). There were also various curios on tables in here so we once again rummaged through them.
- Loddi found a glow sphere. When knocked against a surface it glowed. The harder the knock the longer it glowed.
- Gar found a hot cube, always just a degree below boiling water.
- Skanya found a glass vial with a top that sealed perfectly. It would never leak!
- Kormel once again, was holding out for something bigger!
Of the doorways, one lead to a room with a hatch going down. The other lead a circular room with several bird-like claws that protruded from the wall. Above one of them was a floating black orb. Through the Eye of Akta it was the only thing that did not have a purple glow. It was jet black. No, blacker than black, it was a void of all color. Skanya didn’t want to touch it.
Loddi did however. First with his glow sphere, which it enveloped, and then with his hand…which it also enveloped. Loddi pulled away but it stretch after him like an eager pseudopod. Rulgara had to choose, cut off Loddi’s arm (before it could be enveloped further) or cut off the arm of the pseudopod. She swung down with great force and severed….the black substance. It screamed and Loddi realized he was screaming as well. The orb dripped to the ground, lifeless, but then a moment later slithered to Loddi and enveloped him completely in a black film!
And then…he was fine. Despite being fully covered in the substance he could see and hear and most importantly breathe! It was also exactly the temperature he preferred the most, cool but not cold. We could not here him speak, but could see from his body language that he was in no duress. Loddi focused on the matter around him (attuned) and it formed an orb floating over his hand. Handy!
The Frozen Below
From the other room we opened the hatch and saw another extruded ladder that led into a bone chilling mist with glowing orbs on the floor!
Deeds and Highlights
We ended the session regaling each other with with the deeds that would be remembered in song and story. How Loddi had destroyed the knight made of light, how Skanya deceived the mechanism of the ancients with a simple trick, and how Kormel fought off the corruption of alien magic!
We also highlighted plays folks had made in the game. How cool was it that Rulgara cut off not one, but two arms this game. Wasn’t it great that Loddi asked Skanya why she was so excitable. Each us with our own kind of provisions, as unique as our oaths!
Thoughts on the Game
What a great session. Some things I noticed that Stras did which had me thinking about the mistakes I made in my last session of Curse of Storms.
- No unbeatable foes. I presented Stone Breaker as a foe without a lot of options to defeat. He was more something to evade, but since he’s threatening the temple as well, of course the players will want to destroy him. I think I can make that possible by making the stitching that holds him together much more vulnerable. The ropes are rotting, he’s pulling himself apart in his rage. The players would have tons of options to cut the ropes. Also, I could point out how he avoids the silver chains and mention more of them coiled at the bottom of the sea floor. I was hinting at lots of ways to evade him, but not ways to destroy/defeat him.
- Taking time time when players ask a question about a rule or the setting. I should give myself the time to think on answers and try to find suggestions I can give the players.
- Telling players things directly to prevent us from going down dead ends. I don’t think that’s been an issue in my game (I had plenty of others, but dead ends wasn’t one of them), but it’s a good thing to keep in mind.
- Introducing a new phase (camp phase) by taking the time to read it and explain it’s function in the game. I think I breezed past the explanation of town phase (you’re picked up by the Candlelight and taken to a flotilla…now you’re in town phase, here’s a sheet). If I had spent more time introducing it and explaining why upkeep works the way it does, it might not have had such a negative reaction.
I enjoyed retroactive world building with flashbacks about family life with the brewery. Learning to salt ice to get to the family barrels in the permafrost, having sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Little touches that help me learn more about Skanya as I play her.
Playtest notes:
- Set Apprentice Wizard to increase Social Tier to 1 (maybe 2) if it isn’t there already.
- Make sure people pick load and swear oaths. So easy to forget to do.
- Character sheet, add a place to put what Crafts you know.
