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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jayoungr" data-source="post: 6903758" data-attributes="member: 6702445">Part 1:  RavenhallHost:  The idea is that magic is dying, and the Magus is dying  with it.  We travel together to the realm of Umbra, where magic is born.   Why is magic dying?  Who is the Magus?  What is Umbra?  Why are we  going there?  These are things that you are going to create together as  you play the game.With that in mind, you're each going to make a character.  Characters in Fall of Magic are made by picking a name off this name list.  Everyone choose one name.Harp:  I kind of like Harp.  I'll take Harp.Host:  Harp it is.Vago:  I'll be Vago.Caspian:  I'll take Caspian.Piccolo:  I'll be Piccolo.Host:  Fantastic.  Next, you are each going to choose a title for  your character.  So, for example, you could be an apprentice or a golem  or a raven of Ravenhall, or a hero of Barleytown, or a knight of  Stormguard--any combination of two things from that list.  Unlike the  names, it's totally fine if multiple people have the same title.Vago:  And the titles aren't restricted to the location?Host:  The titles are restricted to the location.  So, those three things are from Ravenhall.Vago:  I'm a fugitive of Stormguard.Harp:  I'm going to be a scholar of Istallia.Caspian:  I'll go with apprentice of Ravenhall.Piccolo:  Do we have anyone from Barleytown yet?Host:  Not yet.Piccolo:  I'll be a swineherd from Barleytown.  Barleytown represent.Host:  Then you will each choose one of these tokens to represent  your character.  The fifth, unchosen token will represent the Magus,  who is a character that you all share.  [Everyone chooses tokens. Piccolo takes the river/ocean. Harp takes  the candle. Vago takes the sword, and Caspian takes the raven. The tree is left over.]Host: Which side would you like to be face up for the Magus we have--this tree, or [turns coin over] this tree?Caspian: Oh, it's like, in bloom and withered.Harp: Magic is dying; maybe we should go with the withered one.Host: So it shall be.  The Magus starts at Ravenhall,  which is where our journey begins.  On your turn, you're going to take  your character token, and you're going to place it on one of the scenes  at the Magus's current location.  You're then going to describe that  scene to us from the perspective of your character.  Beneath each scene  is a story prompt with an additional element that you must use before  your scene can end.  When you're done, just go ahead and pass the turn  to the next player.  We'll just go clockwise.I'd like to now ask for a volunteer to take the first turn.  Who'd like to go first?Vago:  I'll go first.  I've got a scene idea for the bridge.  Do I put my coin there?Host:  Yes, place your token on the bridge and then show us the bridge from Vago's perspective.Vago / The Bridge:  Your Face in the RiverVago:  Vago's perspective of the bridge when we enter scene is  actually from the underside.  The water's not super-high; he's up on one  of the banks, and in the distance you can hear baying hounds.  He's on  the run from slavers, whom he's escaped from.  He's looking up at the  underside of the bridge.  It's moss-encrusted.  Maybe not moss--lichen.   He's taking a breath down here.  He wipes his face with some cool  water.  He's hoping to have just a moment of respite because he's been  on the run all night.  It's just after daybreak.Does somebody happen by in the water, or on the bridge itself, and maybe notice him?  Does anybody have any ideas for that?Host:  Does anybody feel like their character might be there?  Plus, it's fine to have just a little introduction or vignette.Harp:  Sorry, I don't have enough firm ideas yet.Host:  It's okay for this to be just a short vignette, and then it'll come back around.Vago:  Sure, that's fine.Host:  So would you like to end that scene there, or is there anything else you want to talk about with the baying hounds?Vago:  Maybe the sound of the hounds is getting closer as he  finally succumbs to exhaustion and can't take another step.  He winds up  face-down in the river.  I forgot I had to do that.Caspian:  Oh, "your face in the river"?Vago:  Yeah.Piccolo:  I'd like to do something with the scrying pool.Host:  Do you guys want to go counter-clockwise?Harp:  I'm fine with that.  I'm third either way.Caspian:  Sure.Piccolo:  How far back can I start?Host:  It's up to you.  Whatever feels right.Piccolo / The Scrying Pool:  Why You Serve the MagusPiccolo:  I was born sixteen summers ago.  Most children, when  they are born, are given the name of an ancestor in Barleytown.  The man  who raised me either didn't know--Host:  I'm just going to step in for a second.  Always first  start by describing the place, and then go ahead and go into your story.   What's the scrying pool like?  What are you doing there right now?   And then you can flash back in your imagination if you like.Piccolo:  The scrying pool is an area where the forest around it  is rather unkempt, but the clearing inside of it is pristine.  The stone  of granite is as clean as the day it was quarried, and it makes a  perfect circle.  The water inside is rarely troubled by storms, by  wind--by anything, really--and the legend is that it will show the  future, the past, and what is important to the person who looks upon it  if they throw in coins.I came to this place because sixteen summers ago, I was left at  Barleytown and named Piccolo by the man who raised me.  I was raised to  be a swineherd, but last year, I became troubled by dreams,  sleepwalking, strange daydreams.  Eventually, my foster father told me  to leave and not come back until I had come to some resolution.  I  wandered until I heard of the legend of the scrying pool, and I came  there.  The scrying pool, despite the legend, showed me nothing; but  when I looked up from it, I saw the Magus, who told me that if I  followed him, I would learn about myself.That's all I've got.Host:  Whenever you feel like you're done, just go ahead and pass to the next player.Piccolo:  I pass.Harp:  Alrighty.  I'll take the menagerie.Harp / The Menagerie:  The Last Time You Saw Real MagicHarp:  The menagerie as not as wondrous as it used to be.  It was  a gift to the city of Ravenhall from the first Magus, and once upon a  time, it contained exotic and amazing animals from anywhere you could  imagine.  Some said that some of them even came from the world of magic  itself.  It used to be that every cage held a new wonder, the like of  which you would never see anywhere.  Now those animals--well, no one  really knows what happens to them.  You go there one day and something  that's been there as long as you can remember just isn't in its cage  anymore, and something far more ordinary has taken its place.  Now, the  children don't know the difference; they're just as happy to see lions  and tigers and peacocks and things that exist in the ordinary world.   But those who have been coming here for a while realize that something  is being lost.  The centerpiece of the menagerie, the thing that everyone would come to  see, was a bird that sat on a perch eight feet high.  Each feather in  its tail was eight feet long and touched the ground.  As you watched  them, there would be a play of shimmering light and shadow, and  sometimes as they rustled together, there would be the sound of music in  the air, and they would change colors with the light.That was real magic.  I saw it yesterday.  The bird is not here today.Host:  That felt like such a scholarly description of the menagerie.Harp:  Thank you!  [laughs]Caspian / The Bridge: Your Face in the RiverCaspian:  Caspian's at the bridge.  It's a white, pristine,  alabaster bridge, and he's leaning on his elbows over the edge, looking  into the river at his own reflection.  His face is really dour.  He  thinks of the Magus and the pain he feels inside.  It's not a sharp  pain; it's a dull pain, kind of like when you miss somebody, but it's  constantly growing.  He and the Magus both feel it, and it gets worse  over time.He looks up at the horizon.  It's a split of color between the white  bridge and the grey stones on the horizon.  The droplets of rain start  to break up his reflection in the river as he hears the baying of  hounds.  He turns and wonders what's going on.  It kind of breaks him  out of his trance of thinking about the pain inside for a few minutes.[to Vago] I'll give it back around to you.Host:  Do you perhaps see the body of Vago sliding into view?  Do you want to explore that?Caspian:  Yeah, you know what?  I think--Vago:  Could be.  I'd be carried downriver, then.Caspian:  I think that's what it is.  He spins on his heel when  he hears the baying of hounds, and then he hears a splash.  He was  hearing the rain hitting the water, and it was almost musical, just a  light patter, but then he hears a sploosh.  He looks over and sees the body of a man floating completely on top of the water.Host:  What do you do when that happens?Caspian:  That's a good question.  [laughs]Staring at him, he thinks for a second to jump over the railing, but  he's a kind of tall, knobby kid.  He doesn't have that kind of strength  in him.  He was never the kind of kid to climb a tree or to play  rough-and-tumble with the other kids in town.  So he reaches inside, and  even though it really hurts, he moves the water slowly.  The ripples  just slowly push the body towards the shore, and it washes up on the  bank of the river.Host:  What do you do then?Caspian:  Holding his side, Caspian walks down the bridge to get  help.  This man is going to need, maybe, some medicine; maybe he's  injured.  Something is going on.Host:  [to Vago] It sounds like it's your turn.Vago:  Oh!Host:  You have an option now.  If your character token is  already on the map, you may opt instead to move the Magus to the next  location.  But don't feel like you need to rush.  In this game, I would  expect maybe to get to Barleytown and spend a little time there.  This  is a great opportunity for you to figure out who your characters are and  how they relate to each other, while you're in Ravenhall.  So I would  advise you not to advance the Magus until you feel like it's time to go.Vago:  Okay.Host:  So it's your turn now.  Go ahead and choose any of these things.Harp:  I have a question.  Since Caspian's scene involved Vago, and Vago's up next, could he also elect to continue that scene?Host:  Yes, you could very well, if you like.  If I was playing  Vago in this situation, things that come to mind:  one, a conversation  could very well have happened in that last scene if you'd chosen to, but  as you left it, I might think, "What am I interested in?  What do I  want my character to do?  Do I want to show myself being helped?"  Or  maybe I just want to head to the interesting part, cut ahead to where  I'm recovering and having a conversation with somebody.Vago:  I think I'd like to advance time a little bit and have a scene in the rose gardens.Host:  Fantastic.</blockquote>

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