Wow, I can't believe it's been almost two years since the kids and I played RPGs! We started fresh with a new set of characters, and my friend Michelle joined in in the second session of our new sword & sorcery FATE Accelerated game. I think we're going to see this one through to the end (maybe 4 sessions in total) before starting a zombie apocalypse game by popular demand. For now, however, here is our new S&S game:
Dramatis Personae:
Rumbus the Ratkin Assassin
Arbor the Tree Fairy
Sara the Cat Púca
Fierfanil the Elven Bowmaiden
EPISODE 1: The Tree-cutter's Transgression
A very long time ago, in the far-away town of Borgo, there lived a Ratkin -- an anthropomorphic rat -- named Rumbus, who was raised by thieves and lived as a town beggar. When hiding in the alleyways one night, he befriended a cat named Sara, who sometimes liked to rummage through the trash for her dinner, and sometimes was a human being. The burgomaster of Borgo had hired a very rich lumber miller named Collin van Vander to cut down the trees of the forest of Bosco. What they didn't know -- or maybe didn't care about -- was that Bosco was an enchanted forest.
A tree fairy named Arbora, who lived in the enchanted forest of Bosco, enlisted the help of Rumbus and Sara to stop Collin van Vander from deforesting the enchanted woods. The tree fairies of Bosco noticed that their magic was diminishing as more and more trees were felled.
Arbora, Rumbus and Sara found Collin van Vander's lumberjack operation on the edge of the enchanted wood, and confronted him about the effects of his logging on the denizens of the wood. Not wanting his profits to suffer, Collin van Vander sent his lumberjack sidekick Buzz, a beaver-man with a mechanical jaw, and his clockwork lumber-jack and beaver thugs to stop Rumbus, Arbora and Sara. Rumbus used his double-sided, spring-blade sword; Arbora used her fairy magic; and Sara used her sharp claws, to protect themselves from Collin's thugs. When he realized that the forest friends would not be bullied, he was ready to listen. Diplomacy prevailed, and together, they devised a plan to keep Collin's logging industry rolling without encroaching on the enchanted woods. The burgomaster was relieved that he was no longer earning the enmity of the denizens of the enchanted wood, and invited the forest friends to a great feast to celebrate a new era of amity between Bosco and Borgo.
EPISODE 2: The Elf Queen's Quest
Returning to the enchanted wood of Bosco from the feast in the village of Borgo, Rumbus, Arbora and Sara found themselves surrounded in the tall grass! Elven children appeared and beckoned them to follow them because they needed help. The elflings led the forest friends into the elven stronghold of Follettia, where elf-maids and their young watched their arrival from the tree-bridges. Many joined the procession until it included nearly the entire population of Follettia -- all women and children. Arbora asked where the elf-maids' husbands were, and they simply pointed to the great hall of Queen Effluviel, where she sat on a high throne, with an empty throne next to her. The great hall was entirely empty save for the queen and her champion, the young Fierfanil, a sword-dancer and archer who carried the heirloom swords of her own mother, even in the queen's hall!
Queen Effluviel explained that all the elven menfolk had been taken by the Goblin King of the Caverns of Chaos, as had any of the womenfolk who attempted to rescue them, save Fierfanil, who had managed to evade capture and return. The trees and small animals of the enchanted wood had whispered to Effluviel of the "Friends of the Forest" who had stopped the loggers, and the queen beseeched them to help her warrior-maid to save the elven menfolk. Rumbus, Arbora and Sara all agreed, and they departed with Fierfanil, who made a magical map for them to follow.
The path to the Caverns of Chaos was fraught with many dangerous obstacles, the first of which was Gola Ravine. Though the ravine was deep, many enormous stalagmites and buttes jutted up from its depths, providing a possible way across. Rumbus used his prehensile tail; Sara used her cat-like pounces, Arbora used her fairy wings, and Fierfanil used her elven agility to cross from butte to butte. Though Rumbus and Sara made it quickly to the far side of the canyon, two giant Venus flytrap plants struck from below, before Arbora and Fierfanil could do the same, and one of them clamped down on the hem of Arbora's leaf-skirt, holding her in place. Her companions came to her aid, pouncing back into the canyon and onto the stalk of the motile plant-monster. Sara used her claws to cut Arbora free of its spiky maw, and Rumbus used his spring-sword to cleave the stalk, causing it to fall and bridge the gap to the other side of the ravine. But the thing was still alive and ready to chomp! Fierfanil let fly two arrows, cleaving the biting bud in twain and severing it from its stalk. The entire company reached the far end of the ravine, but the other carnivorous plant loomed toward them with its maw wide open! They turned and ran for their lives away from the ravine...and toward the Caverns of Chaos!
EPISODE 3: The Marshes of Madness
Soon the rocky terrain underfoot turned to wetlands and, as the droopy willow trees of the swamp enveloped the travelers, they knew they had reached the Marshes of Madness. Before long, they had lost all visibility to the swarms of insects, the thick miasma, and the dark shadows of the thick overhead canopy. Fierfanel the bowmaiden let loose a wildly spiraling arrow into the canopy, sending a shaft of light down. Sara, in cat form, climbed the tree limbs to peer through the newly made hole and saw, beyond the edge of the marsh, several miles ahead, a great crater in the ground pocked with the cave mouths of the Caverns of Chaos! Arbora the Tree Fairy attempted to enchant the leave of a giant bladderwort plant to use as a flying carpet, but her enchanted sawdust was damp and clumpy in the dampness of the swamp, rendering her fairy magic all but useless. Rumbus gnawed down a tree, shedding enough shafts of light on the swamp floor to allow the party to safely travel for a time.
Eventually, the travelers came to a swamp creek, and crossed via some rocks and floating logs strewn across its breadth. Some of the logs turned out to be alligators, however, and the party was soon taking up arms as they balanced over the stagnant water to fend off the toothy maws of the creatures. They soon dispatched them, however, and made their way to the other side of the creek. Fierfanil's Elven parkour, Sara's feline agility, Rumbus's careful perambulation, and Arbora's agile fairy wings carried them successfully through the labyrinthine terrain with remarkable celerity.
Just as the travelers reached the edges of the Marshes of Madness, a giant dragonfly burst through the willow branches in a frantic flight directly at them! Sara, in cat form, slipped underneath the buzzing beast, flustering it. Arbora flitted out of its flight path, causing it to barrel roll. Fierfanil flipped over its fluttering form, tangling it in the willow branches, and Rumbus rolled underneath it, razoring it thorax with his double-sided spring-blade sword. The giant dragonfly took a nose dive into the muck, struggling to free itself. Suddenly, out of the foliage emerged several grizzled Lizardfolk dragonfly-riders and a young, steedless warrior-in-training who quickly took the opportunity to tackle and harness the downed dragonfly as his band of fellow riders expressed their gratitude to the Ratkin for his assistance. In recompense, they led the travelers safely through the remainder of the Marshes of Madness to the rocky expanse that separated it from the great crater, its deep walls pocked with the gaping cave mouths that led to the Caverns of Chaos!
