ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

[gideonpepys]

The Final Verdict

As promised, I asked my group for feedback on Diaspora at the start of the last session. As I hoped and assumed, it was generally positive. They felt that the adventure was ‘put in the right spot’. Anywhere else and it might not have worked. It wasn’t just that by this stage they were invested in the setting (and came to be invested in Kasvarina), but Diaspora’s precise position following adventure #7 – addressing all of the detailed questions the group had, now that they knew who the Obscurati were and what they were up to: the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ questions, in other words.

The readaloud text worked because it was very well written, and because memory events could be disrupted, so there was an element of tension, not mere passivity. They enjoyed uncovering small details like how flight magic came to be impaired, which by now were immensely satisfying discoveries.

Another player described Nicodemus as a ‘stone cold motherer’, citing in particular his rationale to Kasvarina, putting Launga’s death into perspective against the good they would do. I am pleased to be able to take credit for that, and for my players’ enjoyment of the needlewire parley, which I added because I wanted it to happen for a very long time! (Narratively, it was also a great way to have a confrontation between Kasvarina and Nicodemus before the Lance of Triegenes.)

One player was slightly more critical of the pacing, which he felt lagged in the middle. There was no threat, he felt, no obvious timer. (To paraphrase: “like a PC RPG where you’re told you’re the saviour of the world, then spend hours gathering herbs before a final confrontation.” Although that was tongue in cheek!) The others agreed to some extent, but liked the fact that, once it became obvious to the Ob that they couldn’t harm them, they struck at the Impossible instead.

If I am going to take credit for the needlewire episode, then I must take my share of responsibility for the criticism of act two, as much of the padding was added by me! But a lot of that extra stuff was also included in their list of episodes they enjoyed – the Stone of Not subplot and the rescue of Kai from the Hidden Valley. (Surprisingly, they said they weren’t sure which bits were in the adventure, and which bits were added by me, when I always thought it was self-evident. Even though the players who co-authored those additions (Rumdoom and Matunaaga) were absent, it’s nice to know the transitions are fairly seamless.)

In summary, they felt that act two wasn’t as strong, but that act one and act three were so good that didn’t matter quite so much. Still, everyone agreed that the adventure was unique, audiacious and enjoyable.

Now for adventure #9…

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 49, Part One - the Chessboard Forest

The unit finds itself on a battlefield between two rival fey forces: formorians and elven cavalry on one side; satyrs and centaurs on the other. Uru recognises their banners those of the Unseen Court and the rebellious Hedgehog Court.

Andrei wakes, and gives a grunt of approval on realising he is no longer possessed by Nicodemus. His very next thought is for Isobel: her safety was predicated on his continued co-operation. What now?

As missiles rain down from both sides, it becomes apparent that they are in immediate danger. Leon creates an illusion to conceal them. Korrigan and Quratulain defend the unconscious. Andrei is hit by a formorian spear and immediately falls ‘dead’ again, only wake up a moment later, snap the spear in half and pull it out. “Where the hell are we?” he demands.

In the Dreaming! Leon tries long-range teleportation to a place they have visited before – the Birch Queen’s Fair. It doesn’t work.

Uru tries in vain to summon the creeping fey to his defence. (He is loosely affiliated with the Unseen Court, but has also established a court of his own, the Unheard Court, which in this case carries an ironic, unintended meaning.) He flies up on Little Jack to escape the missiles.

Leon opens a dimension door through the trees into a clearing to the south. Andrei is hit again! He follows the others through the portal when he reawakens. They carry Sly and Gupta, who remain unconscious.

In the wide, square clearing – with unnaturally straight forests on all four sides – the unit is beckoned by and approach a red-haired fey youth who introduces himself as Rambylon. He has no shoes and his feet are on backwards (and he has evidently been robbing the dead). Rambylon offers to lead them off the battlefield for nothing more than a half-elf kiss. (Everyone looks at Gupta’s player, who shrugs.)

Leon sends up Rahu Ketu and confirms that the battlefield is an enormous chessboard pattern, four-hundred feet to each square, alternately forest and plain. In the distance they can hear the sounds of battle, the blaring of a horn and the baying of hounds.

At this point, Gupta shakes and wakes. Andrei recognises the handiwork of his father and describes it as a ‘curse’, which is not the way Gupta feels about it.

They agree to Rambylon’s offer and he leads them through the squares to the south-east. They pass through a lot of skirmishes before a pixie limns them in faerie fire and they become the target of the Great Hunt! A gremlin riding a dire fox, working in concert with the pixie, lures the Hunt towards them. Leon can see Ascodel in the lead - Ascodel, Herald of the Great Hunt, who once joined him on his quest to rid the Dreaming of Tatzel’s blight.

Once again, Leon’s teleport powers save the day as they handily escape being trampled and skewered. He creates an illusion of the unit behind them just in case. (Uru suggests leaving Rambylon behind but he is ignored.)

On a hill overlooking the chessboard battlefield, they see a cluster of onlookers, who turn out to be a group of minor fey nobles enjoying a picnic. The organiser, Clausvald – a pudgy yellow caterpillar the size of a horse, attended by several black swanmays, and waited upon by a bad-tempered ettercap in an angora sweater – greets them with some enthusiasm.

As they approach Korrigan says that he is concerned about the safety of his son, here in the realm of the fey, for the hag Jenny Greenteeth still lays claim to him. Leon offers to put them in the absurdist web, but Korrigan prefers to keep his wits about him for now. Kai is feted and clucked over by the minor fey, who can see he is a ‘magical mortal child with a wisp of fey about him’. Korrigan remains distant and preoccupied, considering his options.

Though they gingerly wield a pair of new-fangled ‘binoculars’ for the purpose of observing the battlefield, the fey object to the presence of Quratulain and force her to remain at a distance. (Little Jack folds up, inactive, in Uru’s cloak.)

Mista Nyves the ettercap begrudgingly offers them drinks. Then he disappears into a large ball of webs in the crook of a nearby tree and returns moments later with whatever was ordered. Leon recognises this as the Webway – a network of extraplanar tunnels used by crawling fey. Uru is intrigued.

Clausvald asks them which side they are fighting for and when they look confused he fills them in on the situation: Fey monarch Thisraldion and rebel leader Olazdor each accuse the other of being responsible for the murder of Rock Rackus – consort of Thisraldion, but equally beloved of both sides. Clausvald is clearly of the opinion that Thisraldion is to blame, and tried to pin the murder on Olazdor. His servant Mista Nyves disagrees and says it was the other way around. He was told as much by his good friend Copperhat the Headless. (This kicks off a lot of complaints from the other fey about Copperhat, who is viewed as an unpopular trickster.) It doesn’t help matters that Rock had his head cut off and an arrow through his heart – the modus operandi of both leaders.

So, in accordance with fey tradition, it is up to their followers to sort the matter out in formalised, ritual combat. Clausvald thinks that the conflict will soon spill out of these confines, and eventually the leaders will get involved.

Gupta ingratiates herself with the spectators by providing a detailed commentary on the battle. She learns that they are quite close to the fey capital, Clover (a mirror image of the Risuri capital of Slate). She then mines the fey for rumours, and learns a lot about what has been going on locally: stolen magical eggs; gremlin recruitment; the banishment of Lady Beshela’s court prophet; herds of ungulates running rampant in the Weftlands, unchecked by the Great Hunt. They also learn that travel back to the Waking is currently impossible – but maybe the most powerful fey can help.

At this point they are finally recognised from the lyrics of one of Rock Rackus’ songs. The fey nobles are starstruck and Clausvald offers to buy their items to sell as memorabilia. Leon plays along to see what will happen. He doesn’t need Mista Nyves help to recognise Fool’s Gold when he sees it, but Mista Nyves chips in nonetheless (“Are you paying with real gold, or with the fake stuff?), and is fired by Clausvald for his pains.

The newly unemployed Nyves offers himself as a guide. Unlike Rambylon he doesn’t want ‘nothing weird like kisses’ as payment, only gold. Uru is particularly keen to engage Mista Nyves, but the others prefer Rambylon, so Uru engages Mista Nyve’s services himself.

The fighting comes to an abrupt end in the early afternoon and the combatents return to the city en masse.

Having two guides proves advantageous almost at once, when Korrigan decides that he is unwilling to continue any further ‘out in the open’ without first scouting out the lay of the land. In any case, Sly Marbo is in dire need of rest. Rambylon says he knows of a secret place they can hide out for the time being, and sets off with Korrigan, Kai, Sly and Quratulain (for support in case they are discovered, and because her presence seems to irritate the fey). Korrigan tells the others to go on to Clover and see what they can find out about Rock’s murder. “Rock’s not dead,” says Leon as they part.

 

[gideonpepys]

Zeitgeist Zuesdays Session 49, Part Two - Clover

Mista Nyves led them on to Clover. The road reached a ford (no bridges as they attract trolls) where a ‘traffic jam’ of fey soldiers bartered for beeswax to plug their ears so they could pass a ‘blighted spot’ without discomfort. The spot was caused by a flour mill in the Waking.

When they reached the city they decided to track down Copperhat the Headless. Mista Nyves took them to the Headless Human, where they found Copperhat drowning his sorrows in the company of the horrible Borenbog – an obscure and flatulent folk terror from the High Bayou. Copperhat invited the unit to join them. He was beside himself with grief over the death of Rock.

Copperhat offered them the following theory about the murder: whoever killed Rock had to have powerful magic to avoid all the divinations both sides have been casting. That meant someone in one of the courts, and probably Olazdor or Thisraldion. In Copperhat’s opinion, Olazdor wasn’t smart enough to lie about something like this. But Thisraldion was a jealous lover. Emphasis on lover. Copperhat, weeping at the memory of his friend, said he couldn’t let go. He nodded to the one-handed patrons here, and said that they still longed for what they lost. (Their hands were now attached to the belt of the Borenbog.) Copperhat felt certain that Thisraldion would have wanted some keepsake or other. Rumour was that Rock was found naked. Who knew what Thisraldion might have taken?

Copperhat said he was afraid Thisraldion would kill him too, which is why he’d been lying to everyone who will listen, singing the monarch’s praises. But if he were braver, he’d go and look for clues. “It’s what Rock would have done.” He asked the unit if they planned to investigate, and when they said yes, Copperhat asked to be present whenever they brought the killer to justice.

They asked Copperhat if he knew any way for them to get home, but he said he didn’t. None of the old routes were open. Not for the first time, Andrei suggested that they simply join one side, help them to win and claim passage home as their reward. But is that what the leaders of the courts would want? And were they capable of sending them home in the first place?

They set off for Thistle Palace to find out, leaving Copperhat to his cups. On the way they swung by a ‘whirligig ship’ – the sight of a great blight from the Waking, but Uru could find no way of interfering with the vessel from this side. Even if he could, would that earn sufficient favour to earn passage home?

Their route to Thistle Palace was circuitous and long. Gupta was vaguely familiar with Slate and said that she thought they were going round in circles. Mista Nyves shrugged and denied the implication, but their route at once became more direct.

At the palace, a camp of wounded soldiers sprawled across the grounds. Visitors to Torfeld Palace would enter by the main entrance at the centre of the building, but here they headed for the east wing, first washing their hands at the Foreigner’s Fountain (an act that cleansed them from head to toe) before entering through ranks of rangale – armoured, human-faced stags, elks and gazelles wielding spears and bows with the power of their minds.

Word of their arrival had preceded them and they were greeted by an effusive brownie named Binniwich who led them to an audience with Thisraldion. On the way they encountered the imperious Lady Atsla of Ice, the impetuous Lord Karrest of Fire and a gigantic, robed mound known as Furg, the toadstool sage. Each of these figures was only visible due to their mask and robes. Atsla departed to avoid Karrest; Karrest stormed off after issuing threats; Furg was more friendly and took them on a short detour to the Titan Shrine.

Recognising Leon as a valued fey emissary, Furg offered him the Book of Kelland, a tome that told the story of how the first King of Risur defeated the fey titans. Leon accepted (both the book, and the fey bargain it implied).

While they talked with Furg, a floating mask approached over the palace lawn. Where the others saw nothing else, Leon saw a naked dryad – the same lithe figure he alone had seen tending to the injured in the camp when they arrived. An ash tree outside the window rustled and lifted the dryad up into its branches, bearing her through the window, which yielded before it, as did the walls and doors of the palace. This was Sallin, another member of the court. She seemed wise but kindly, chiding them gently for their ‘many weapons’. She had tried to guide ‘poor Rock’, she said, and hoped to provide them with better counsel.

Furg and Sallin led them to the Chamber of the Unseen Court, where they found Thisraldion engaged in idle swordplay with a blade that went ‘snickersnack’ with every flourish. Atsla and Karrest were already there. Each lord sat in a large high-backed chair, save for Thisraldion, who swooned melodramatically into an ornate throne. A sixth chair stood empty; once, it was occupied by the renegade Ekossigan. The Court welcomed Leon in particular, but acknowledged the whole unit as servants of the King of Risur.

Thisraldion was disconsolate, still in mourning over the death of Rock. But his conversation was vague, proposing rambling feasts and poetry competitions to mark their arrival, until Andrei grew exasperated and demanded to know if he could help them back to the real world. Thisraldion ordered that dinner be served amid the wounded on the grand lawn, and while they ate, promised that he would send the unit back to Risur on one condition: that they prove Olazdor and the Hedgehog Court were responsible for the murder of Rock Rackus. Rock talked about the unit a lot, and Thisraldion knew them to be wise and accomplished investigators. “Never has a fey monarch loved a mortal so intensely. And the folk of the Dreaming loved him too. If there is to be a new king in Risur, there are few acts that could earn more favour among the fey than to bring Rock’s killer to justice.”

Leon said he felt strongly that Rackus was still alive. Thisraldion dismissed the notion: Rock’s head and body had been taken to the mortuary and buried!

Thisraldion then changed the subject to that of their famous leader, Marshal Korrigan. He was well aware of the claim Jenny Greenteeth laid to his son, and declared that Kai would be safe while he remained in the city. “She was once a member of the Hedgehog Court, is now a renegade, banished. Neither she nor her servants may enter Clover.”

Sallin then spoke up. She reminded the court of a prophecy that told of a half-fey child that would one day unify the two realms of Waking and Dreaming and take up a seat in the Unseen Court. She and Furg both believed that Kai was that child. “But he is still too young for such a role. And so, though you are mortal, we offer the seat to you, Leon Veilleux, to hold for him until he comes of age.” This, they said, was in recognition of his many services to the court – not the least of which was the recent ejection of the colossus from their realm. Leon had also been instrumental in dealing with Ekossigan – the very lord he was to replace. And – if rumours were to be believed – his appointment might also serve to strengthen the bond between the fey and their allies in Elfaivar…

Leon said nothing in direct reply to this last insinuation (though he felt a pang of loss at this first mention of Kasvarina). Instead, he accepted their offer and agreed to join the Court.

They would make the necessary arrangements over the next few days. In the meantime, Leon could play no further part in the murder investigation.

End of Session

 

[gideonpepys]

Thoughts on Adventure #9

Observations

Sorry to be critical, but having played out two sessions of adventure #9 now (reports for session 50 coming soon), I have to report a certain lack of focus to the opening. (This could well be down to me; I've been feeling off my game lately, but it's hard to tell which came first, the king's favourite chicken or the stolen magical egg.) I’m not a huge fan of the mystery the adventure presents, though I understand that the main reason for its inclusion is to foreshadow events for adventure #12. But for the life of me, I can’t work out how the players are supposed to figure out ‘whodunnit’. (The adventure says they can use divinations, but which ones? And how come the fey haven't used them?)

Also, although the text staggers the introduction of the members of each court, there remain an overwhleming 10 NPCs for the players to get their heads around (and who disappear shortly afterwards, never to be seen again). There isn’t really a penalty for failure (often an issue with story-based, cinematic adventure paths), and I get the feeling that my players are feeling as frustrated as their characters would be at being stuck in the Dreaming, subjected to fey whim.

To provide some tension, I have set a real-world time-limit to their investigations: they have only one more session remaining to complete them and must announce their findings at the start of the fourth.

Alterations

In comparison with Diaspora, which featured substantial additions and diversions throughout, I plan to run The Last Starry Sky pretty much as written. Just in case the few tweaks I have already made cause confusion, there have been a few name changes to Act One that are mostly just a bit of fun:

The last major ‘buffer adventure’ we played out before our campaign ended its initial run was set in the Dreaming. The only unit member involved was Leon, who gathered about him a band of misfits we jokingly referred to as ‘Team D’. One of them was a loud, pompous bralani named Ascodel, who we described as ‘Herald of the Great Hunt’, so it only seemed fitting that I substitute him for Riffian. (When I mentioned him last week, his own player groaned and said, “Oh no, not him!”)

The only other members of team D who are likely to show up here are Redcoat, a talking bear, and Nbed, a satyr mercenary. Another character the group met was a satyr named Dantes, and he may show up too. Again, I mention this only to save making explanations mid-session-report.

Another change is that the fey respond strangely to Kai, Korrigan’s son (making a rather clumsy reference to a prophecy, blah blah). This would have been handled more smoothly but Korrigan’s player was absent last week; I could have left the matter until he returned, only Leon’s player is absent this week, and the upshot was going to be, ‘we’re offering you a place in the Court, to hold until the boy comes of age’. (He needed to be given the option to accept before he left.) This entire addition was purely to establish that there is more to Kai’s relationship with the fey that has yet to be revealed. (He was, after all, promised to them by his mother in return for Korrigan’s rescue from Yerasol IV. But which fey entity was behind this initial promise?)

Moving on to Act Two, I plan to alter the outcome of the assassination plot to work back in some of the elements I liked in the first draft. The Cypher System does a bad job of handling NPC vs NPC and PC vs PC conflict, which means that the King’s untimely death would be a matter of DM fiat anyway. So I mean to have Harkover try to teleport away when things go badly for Aodhan, into the real trap laid by Stanfield, bringing the King into his clutches and Harkover close to death. [Edit: I changed my mind about this and had the king die on screen, not off.]

The battle in the palace will also feature a betrayal that was seeded in our campaign many years ago (but might not carry a huge amount of weight now, with the memory having faded somewhat).

The final extended fight against Stanfield will also be augmented by additional foes: Festoon & Mehmood, the villains working for Stanfield who tracked down Uriel’s incarnations; and Azure Lord Blackthorn, an erstwhile ally of the unit who they kind of hate. These inclusions are simply to finish off dangling plot-threads.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 50, Part One

Following Thisraldion’s promise that his son would come to no harm, Korrigan was summoned from hiding. (Rambylon had taken him, along with Kai, Quratulain and Sly, to an area of rolling hills outside Clover known as ‘the Warrens’, where Sly Marbo could be nursed back to health among his own people. Sly was left behind in the care of a brace of healers.)

While they waited for Korrigan to arrive, they finished their long meal and returned to the audience chamber. Karrest and Atlsa, who had both drifted away, returned at this juncture. (They noticed as they headed back to the palace that the sun had not moved since they sat down to eat. Over dinner, Gupta spent the time studying Nicodemus’ Ob ring. There was no inscription on the inside. Now that they knew the secret of the Ob’s creation, Gupta felt that they could use this ring to locate senior members of the conspiracy. But not from here! Uru also asked if they could take a look at the arrow used in Rock’s murder and was told it could be found at the Mosscat Mortuary.)

Kai’s arrival excited the fey. Sallin and Furg fussed over him, and extended their offer to his father – that Kai might one day sit on the throne soon to be occupied by Leon. Korrigan said he set no store by prophecies and pre-destination, and did not want to put his son in such a position when he was too young to make up his own mind. The fey seemed to regard this as an acceptance in some way.

Thisraldion now repeated his request to the unit, that they should investigate the murder of Rock Rackus, and present their findings to both courts in two days’ time. In the meantime, they would be given license to conduct their investigations under the auspices of the Unseen Court, and were offered lodgings on the palace grounds by Sallin. They were also given directions to the Hedgecourt Court, on the assumption that they would want to interrogate them first. They were also told that Rock’s body was found in the ‘Krog Tunnel’ by an elf-like fey named Aric de Rocha.

Just then, Binniwich the brownie entered and announced the arrival of Ascodel, Herald of the Great Hunt. Ascodel stomped into the chamber, kneeled before Thisraldion and apologised for the Hunt’s failure to capture ‘that blasted fox’. His only explanation was that people kept getting in his way. Then he stood and gave the party a bold ‘huzzah.’ He recognized them from earlier and apologized if he trampled any of them. He then realised he had interrupted politics, ‘and I hate I politics’, so he made his departure. Once he was gone, the Unseen Courtiers had a laugh: Some days ago, they told Ascodel that a fox had killed one of Thisraldion’s favorite hens, and ever since they’d been using him and the whole Great Hunt in battle by luring them around with a relay of foxes. (Uru wondered if they could gain leverage of any kind by revealing this fact to Ascodel.)

When it was time to leave, they bid farewell to Thisraldion one by one, bowing before him before withdrawing from his presence. Only later would they discuss the fact that they had each been left with a very different impression of him, on looking into his eerie mirror-mask.

Leon quietly spoke to Korrigan as he left. Ascodel had not recognised him. This put Leon in mind of the fact that, in returning to warn Korrigan that Kai might be abducted, Leon had completely avoided a whole timeline of events (including one in which he met Korrigan as an eighty-year-old and Kai in middle age – floating on a coracle on the seas of Mavisha). If Ascodel didn’t remember him, it seemed that a lot of things he recalled must never have happened. He wondered what all this meant for the machinations of Jenny Greenteeth, which he hoped to have thwarted.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 50, Part Two - The Hall of Mayflies

On leaving the palace grounds, a bitter dispute broke out between Rambylon and Mista Nyves, as to which route would bring them to the Hedgehog Court more quickly. Uru backed up Nyves at first, but the others supported Rambylon, who was keen that they should meet with the rebel faction. At the other’s request, Uru threatened Nyves, who backed down in recognition of his status and agreed that they should follow Rambylon. The route took them all around the houses, and back into the palace through the opposite wing! (Later they learned that Rock had taken this route many times, and never once realised that they were in the same place!)

A throng of satyrs, pixies and grigs argued in the foyer before the Hall of Mayflies, and the unit’s arrival almost went unnoticed until they were spotted by Lerina, the Reseen Marauder: a scantily dressed and muscular elf with a hawk-sized phoenix companion, and a crackling electric hammer. Korrigan used the Humble Hook to learn about her – born 300 years ago in the Waking; once a member of the Unseen Court; expelled for her opposition to Aodhan. Her pitted steel mask now hung about her neck. Lerina turned out to be fairly down-to-earth and chatted with them about events in the Waking before inviting them to meet the rest of the rebels. (As they went she said she didn’t mind Rock Rackus, but found his constant companion, Copperhat, to be irritating in the extreme.)

Petitioners were lined up in the hall outside the court chamber, and the attention of many was focused on an aged satyr, Darbony the Gruff Goat, who wore luxurious robes and gold jewellery. He flirted with a trio of veiled nymphs who giggled and slapped his hands away as he used them as props for a tale about wrestling a giant caterpillar. Lerina interrupted his old war story and said the court recess was over, so they should be attending to business in the chambers. Darbony huffed and began to comply, when a few satyrs in the crowd, most of them bandaged from recent battles, cursed at him and one threw a bloody rag at the his head. Darbony produced an axe and threatened them. Petitioners screamed and Darbonly suddenly leapt at the satyr who threw the rag and killed him. He threw a bag of silver to the survivors. “Weregild,” he chuckled, and then stalked into the council chamber. (Korrigan used the Humble Hook and Gupta Stared in Wonder, between them learning that Darbony bought his way into the leadership of the Hedgehog Court, but all he cared for was the prestige. His mismanagement had caused the satyrs who were allied with him to suffer the brunt of casualties among the rebel forces, and now they were threatening to abandon the rebellion. This would leave Darbony fairly worthless to the Hedgehog Court, but he was too stubborn and short-tempered to actually fix things. Fearing a loss of power he’d taken to flirting and drinking at every opportunity.)

The Hall of Mayflies was empty, apart from six tall chairs, laid out just like the circle of the Unseen Court, except there was no throne. Suddenly, a small, furry, black figure leapt out from the shadows and snarled viciously at Quratulain. Then, unable to affect or intimdate her, it scuttled up the curtains and chittered at them. This was Lavac, the Gremlin Herald. Uru approached him and they talked in Goblin. Lavac was distrustful of his evident technological bent, and only calmed down when Uru offered him something to break – the Icy End of the World Grenade he had spent such a long time working on! (In return, Uru received Granny’s Boon, which he considered to be a fair trade.) Lavac represented the gremlins of the Anthras Mountains, who were particularly annoyed by Risur’s adoption of technology and very adept at messing with it. When Lavac realised who they were, he confessed that he had unwittingly aided the Obscurati, who had him steer his gremlin followers at different mines. This freed up resources the Ob needed to construct the Colossus. A few months ago Lavac realized he had been duped, and offered to help Uru and his friends if he could.

Soon, Olazdor the Archfey of the Winds arrived, with Beshela, Archfey of the Sea on his arm. She of course remembered the unit very well indeed. They had defeated and imprisoned her friend Ethelyn, and they had only managed to dissuade her from taking her revenge by besting her in a Boasting Contest. She commiserated with them on the loss of the Impossible ‘a fine ship’ that had received her boon, but maintained an austere distance.

Olazdor was headless, with a wooden eagle mask hovering above his broad, hairy chest. He had a bow and quiver strung across his back and a pair of shortswords at his hips, presenting quite the image of a mighty warrior. He thumped his chest with his fist when he saw the unit, and then asked for all members of the court to gather and for the room to be sealed, “since it is time to discuss pressing business”.

First of all, he told them that he was very pleased to meet them, and knew them well from Rock’s songs An RHC Hero and 18 Mile. But he was confused by the absence of so many famous members and inquired after Matunaaga in particular (impressed that one of the maustin caji should choose to follow Korrigan, when his people had abandoned their oath to the king). Olazdor said he had once served the Kings of Risur as an ally, before the ‘age of noise and steel’ and fought alongside the maustin caji. It emerged that Olazdor knew Matunaaga’s father, Chenu. Korrigan told him the sad news that Chenu was dead – and that he died defending his son from fey creatures he suspected were agents of Jenny Greenteeth.

She had once been a member of the Hedgehog Court, but had been exiled for her militancy. (An attempted incursion into the Waking, which the unit had thwarted.) Korrigan wondered aloud if she might have killed Rock Rackus to initiate this conflict? The courtiers did not like the sound of that theory, as they were whole-heartedly convinced that Thisraldion was behind the murder. Olazdor described him as ‘both a jealous husband and a black widow’ and was only sorry that he had not been able to convince his friend to abandon their affair. Rock was entirely smitten by the ‘queen of the fey’ and got such a huge kick out of cuckolding the fey king that Olazdor hadn’t the heart to tell him they were one and the same! The trouble, he said, was that Thisraldion’s mask reflected the observer as they saw themselves. Rock considered himself both noble and masculine, and an object of sexual desire, and the mask showed him a reflection of whichever mood he was in.

(This got the unit to thinking about their own final impressions of Thisraldion: Korrigan had got the impression that Thisraldion was a judicious ruler; Quratulain thought she spied a sudden flash of vengeful ire; Uru decided he was an all-round good egg; Gupta found herself pitying him and wondered how he had become so disconnected from his people. Andrei had shuddered when they left the Unseen Court and thought to himself, ‘He’s a monster!’)

Olazdor encouraged them to investigate Rock’s murder, but admitted he did not know how to get them back to the Waking. He plainly told them that if they needed the Unseen Court’s aid that badly, they should damn him now and falsely convict him; but if they valued justice and honour, they would do what’s right. Lerina suggested that they send people to the Halls of Accumulated Wisdom to look for a way back. Darbony said they should just join the fight against the Unseen Court, and perhaps claim a kingdom for themselves. (“Forget about the Waking; the wine is better here.”) Lavac sat in dark corner and watched. Beshela wondered aloud if the Risuri crown was in danger. She disagreed with Aodhan, but he and Ethelyn did once save her life. (Yes, she sided with Ethelyn against her brother, but she would fight for Aodhan against anyone else.)

After a while the Hedgehog Court announced that they needed to return to their duties and the unit left to begin their investigation.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 50, Part Three - CSI Clover

First they went to the scene of the crime. Rock’s body had been discovered in the Krog Tunnel, a strange underground passage between three different districts of Clover. Rambylon said that although someone who passed through it only ever saw two ends, it actually had three, making a sort of Y shape if charted on a map. Depending on how you entered – on foot, in a carriage, alone, in a group, singing a song, carrying a toad, etc. – the tunnel may decide to bend and deposit you in either of the other two exits. You only saw the people who were taking the same path you were, though if you enter in a group that group would tend to stick together. Regardless of which way you went, though, the tunnel always seemed straight. Each end was capped with stone buttresses, which were perpetually coated in graffiti proclaiming whichever group in the neighborhood was in ascendancy, whether they be criminal, cultural, or culinary. They left Andrei and Rambylon at the entrance and told them to keep a look out for trouble.

Inside the tunnel, which had a fifteen foot high ceiling, the graffiti currently had a major ‘night sky’ motif. From his close vantage on the ceiling, Uru could see that the stars had been replaced with tiny gears, a few of which ground together, spraying blood across the heavens as they crushed small creatures (both creatures and blood depicted in deep reds and browns against the darkness of space, and seeming as nothing more than smudges or dim nebulae from the ground). This gave Uru the idea to add such fine, ‘hidden’ detail to the murals in his garden.

Nyves took them to the spot where Rock was murdered – in the crook of the tunnel, though you couldn’t tell right now. They searched the area, but the crime scene had been sullied by several days of traffic. However, Uru found wisps of cobwebs on the ceiling which he was able to identify as part of the Webway. Gupta took a deep breath and opened her mind to Wonder. She received a vision of the culprit, invisible, shrouded in darkness, scuttling out of the Webway. (Everyone looked at Uru.) Quratulain calculated that Rock Rackus came this way so often it would be impossible to narrow down who might have known when he would be here, but there must have been plenty of other witnesses too.

While they pored over the meagre evidence, Uru noticed a shift in the quality of sound in the tunnel, as if the treble notes from outside had suddenly been cut off. Moments later, freezing sea water began pouring down the walls of the tunnel, fast enough that they were shin-deep in just a few seconds. Korrigan grabbed Kai by the hand and ordered the rest of the group back to the entrance. Uru buzzed ahead on Little Jack and saw from a distance that the tunnel had been sealed by a wall of ice.

Before he could get close, however, an arcane shimmer presaged the arrival of a huge fey orca! Another appeared behind the group. These enormous creatures lashed out in anger and beset the unit with piercing whalesong. This might have been an easy fight, but so keen had they been to proceed with their enquiries, the unit had neglected to rest. Everyone except Gupta was still weary from the gauntlet of Methia. Quratulain used her rifle for the first time (to great effect), and Gupta transformed into a tiger for the first time since Trekhom (and the fight against the cult of Kamanov). Uru shot one of the orca straight down its blow-hole. It didn’t take long, but by the time the creatures were dealt with, the water was five feet deep and rising.

Korrigan and Kai melded with Mavisha and swam up to the ice wall. Their schism-wrought nature helped them to ignore the bitter cold the magic wall emanated. Korrigan then turned back to his ‘normal’ form and used Urimshock on the ice. Nothing. He repeated the action, kicking at the wall with all his might. Cracks appeared and he tried again. It was clear that this could work, if only he had the strength to keep going, but he was exhausted. Once again, he utilized Kai’s connection with the planes to summon the pure, positive energy of Vona, bathing all of them in its healing radiance.

Concerned for Uru – who was too worn out to shadow step through to the other side and, of all of them, the most likely to drown as the water rose closer to the ceiling – Quratulain handed him the Golden Icon of Nem, which Matunaaga had gifted her before he left. With it, Uru passed through the ice wall only to find danger on the other side: a rough-looking group of satyr mercenaries, accompanied by a surly, talking bear.

“Here’s one of them now,” they said. “Let’s get to work.”

End of Session

 

[gideonpepys]

On second thoughts...

I take it all back. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that my initial reservations were wholly unfounded, but after finishing up our third session of investigations, I have to say that it has gone better than I expected. The clues are more direct and obvious than I thought they were, and even without divinations to help them, the players have enough resources (esoteric powers such as ‘Stares in Wonder’ and ‘Predictive Model’, for those familiar with the Cypher System) that they kind ‘skip to the end’ in the way good detectives do, through intuition or deductive reasoning (and without relying entirely on player skill). Perhaps it is the freedom from an ideal outcome (which besets the coolest moments in Zeitgeist, as the pressure is on to make the session run ‘right’ or be suitably melodramatic) but I am enjoying having no major ‘stake’ in the outcome, and watching the group figure things out as best they can. I think that’s the part I skipped, cognitively: it doesn’t matter how things turn out! For that reason, I’m actually glad I placed a real-world time-limit on the investigation. The players then have to do their best with the time available. One of the players left our latest session saying, “I usually don’t enjoy investigations, but this one is quite cleverly done”. Never have I been as happy to be proved wrong!

Report on session 51 to follow shortly.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 51, Part One - The Debauched Brotherhood

Uru immediately threw up a Cloud of Darkness to defend himself. One of the satyrs gave an order and another piped a charm, causing Uru to dance and jerk uncontrollably. Little Jack responded by manoeuvring to keep Uru seated, but this took him out of the cloud. At once, the other satyrs began to fire arrows, though they failed to find their spiralling, air-borne target.

Meanwhile Korrigan continued to pound on the ice-wall and cracks began to appear even on the outside. One of the satyrs pointed this out to the others, but it was too late: the wall came asunder and the satyrs were swept away on a sudden flood of sea-water. Redcoat the bear (for it was he) planted his feet firmly and remained standing. Quratulain, Korrigan, Kai and Gupta (still in tiger form) were washed out of the tunnel, and struggled to regain their footing. (Nyves clung to the roof of the tunnel and stayed there until the coast was clear.)

With the piped charm at an end, Uru took aim at Redcoat and fired a warning shot. Uru’s idea of a warning was an agonising shuriken between the shoulder blades that caused Redcoat to cry out in pain and give in to the flood. Uru demanded that the satyrs surrender.

Their leader was already back on his hooves. This black-clad satyr was far more menacing than the rest. In response to Uru’s threats he snarled back, “Listen to that! The little one’s trying to throw a scare into Nbed. Stick ‘em, boys.” Two satyrs sprang at Quratulain and Korrigan, who had yet to stand back up.

Quratulain dispatched her attacker before he could land a blow. The satyr was not dead, but perilously close. “You cannot hurt us,” said Quratulain. “Just stop it.”

Gupta rose, not as a tiger, but in a hybrid form that the others had not seen before. She greeted the mercenaries with threatening snarls. Redcoat shouted to Nbed, “I thought this was supposed to be an easy job?”

Korrigan rose, warding off blows. “A keen observation. How about we stop this madness and talk?” There was a cautious impasse, weapons still drawn.

“Is this the first time Beshela has lied to you?” asked Gupta.

“Beshela has no sway over the Debauched Brotherhood,” answered Nbed. Korrigan knew something of Nbed thanks to the insight of the Humble Hook and threatened to report their actions to the Rowan King (under whose banner they now fought). Nbed became angry at this and flecks of his spit landed on Korrigan as he shouted back, “The Rowan King promised our arms to Darbony. It is for him we fight now!” It was evident that Nbed feared Darbony, and how the Gruff Goat would react to their failure.

At this point, Redcoat, who had been sniffing the air, suddenly recognised the unit. He immediately launched into a complaint that they had tricked him out of some mead, before remembering that they had also freed the River King from the pernicious influence of Jenny Greenteeth.

In the end, they managed to persuade the Brotherhood to admit that Darbony had sent them. Darbony had ordered Rock’s execution himself and now wanted to cover up his crime. (The story went that he was jealous of Rock. The satyr mercenary who had carried out his orders had died on the battlefield just a few days ago.) They confirmed that the ice walls and the sea water had not been part of their plan.

They allowed the Brotherhood to retreat, and promised to help them avoid Darbony’s wrath, using their influence with the Unseen Court to do so.

Though they were smarting from their last fight – and unbeknownst to the satyrs, perilously close to defeat – they decided to return to the palace immediately and confront Darbony (relying on the fact that he would not attack them in public). Mista Nyves led them straight back without taking a roundabout route (he was, they knew, no fan of the Hedgehog Court). On the way, Uru attuned himself with the spirits of the city and learned that Andrei had set off with Rambylon when the ice walls went up, trying to find them at the other exit. Uru sent an animal messenger to Andrei and told him to go with Rambylon to keep watch over Sly.

Outside the Hall of Mayflies, the crowds had thinned, but Darbony was still engaged in court business. He barely seemed to notice Korrigan at first, and when he finally did he seemed perplexed and far from guilty-looking. When confronted with the accusations, Darbony denied them and Korrigan was convinced that he was telling the truth. Korrigan put in a good word for Nbed and his followers, and Darbony said he had no interest in punishing them for failing to carry out orders he never gave. Then he dropped his voice to a whisper and offered to bear false witness against whoever they chose as their prime suspect. Korrigan asked if Darbony thought Beshela might be behind the murder of Rock (given the nature of the first attack in the tunnel). Darbony immediately confirmed that she was a very likely suspect and that he had heard her threaten Rock’s life on many occasions. He gave a melodramatic wink, and Korrigan withdrew, favouring the truth over a fit-up.

So: rest! They returned to the cottage Sallin had made available on the palace grounds. Everyone awoke fully refreshed, except Gupta who was extremely nauseous: When she took tiger form it was necessary for her to consume a living thing, but she had neglected to do so. (Even if she had been able to eat a whole killer whale, the whales were summons and had vanished when they died.) Quratulain had also suffered some external damage which rest could not heal, and for the first time she allowed Uru to fix her.

Sallin came to visit them while they breakfasted. They exchanged pleasantries and Korrigan said he had some questions about Rock’s body, but Sallin said she had not seen it. When asked why no attempt had been made to establish the truth, Sallin said that it did not concern her; she regretted the conflict but saw it as a means to deal with the vexing Hedgehog question once and for all. She did not like human machinery any more than they did, but thought their fixation on it was ironic – making the very thing they despised the focal point of their lives, and elevating it to a greater importance than it would otherwise have. “Machines have come to dominate their lives too,” she said.

Uru quizzed Nyves about the nature of the Webway. It ranged throughout the Dreaming and could be accessed only by ‘spidery fey’, or those who entered and exited in their company. They ruminated on who that pointed to, but could think of no one obvious. (Except Uru! )

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 51, Part Two - Mosscat Mortuary

West of the city, located near an idyllic flowered cemetery, the cheery Mosscat Mortuary had plenty of tall windows to let in light, which fed the staff: intelligent cat-like plant creatures made of moss. The mosscats, led by a highly strung mortician named Desulie, were only a foot or two tall, but could extend tendrils of moss to manipulate objects. Desulie herself had the ability to assume the form of an elf, but with distinctly feline mannerisms, and did so in order to converse with them on their arrival. She said that the mosscats had just finished burying the body of Rock Rackus, which raised immediate suspicions. But Desulie explained that they had not done so on anybody’s orders, simply at what seemed to be ‘the most appropriate point’ (which often turned out to be just before someone came by and asked to look at a corpse). She said she would need to get proper approval to dig it up, which could take a few hours, but allowed them to go ahead and dig it up themselves without waiting for the official gravediggers. Uru got his ghostly entourage to do it.

Though he died three weeks ago, a gentle repose ritual had kept the body pristine. While Korrigan went ahead and examined the body, Quratulain took a look at the murder weapon. This was certainly one of Olazdor’s arrows, but it had never been used to kill anyone – a fact immediately confirmed by Korrigan who reported that the puncture wound was too shallow to have been fatal and consistent with being stabbed with the arrow at close quarters, rather than shot from a bow. The neck had been severed with two blows – not the mark of a vorpal sword. Furthermore, the amount of blood still in the body indicated that the heart was not beating at the time those wounds were inflicted. The hands and feet were completely lacking in calluses or wear – quite unlikely for an ex-Docker! Korrigan concluded that this was a fake body; a ‘sham-Rock’.

Gupta asked Desulie if she had anything else in her keeping that belonged to Rock. Desulie was honest enough to admit (somewhat reluctantly) that she had a ‘keepsake’ in the form of a liquor bottle that was found near the body. Uru concluded that this had been laced with a powerful narcotic (though he could find no trace of this in the fake body). Had it been used to subdue the real Rock? A further sniff revealed an unpleasant and familiar odour: the bottle had been handled (and swigged from) by the Borenbog!

After much discussion about the import of this revelation, the group felt they needed to consult a sage, or someone able to conduct a divine or arcane examination of the body. To save lugging the whole thing around, Korrigan cut off a finger and they reburied the corpse.

Then they asked Nyves if he could find them a suitable person for the job. Nyves confirmed that he could, and that the fellow in question could be found at drinking-hole in Clover, where the only condition was that you couldn’t leave without buying a drink. This sounded deeply suspect to Uru who had had enough of Nyves’ duplicity and threatened him as Lord of Creeping Fey. Nyves confessed this was indeed a trick: the drinks were free, and the only way you could leave this pub was by out-drinking its proprietor, a nereid! When asked why he sought to waylay them, Nyves confessed that it was out of loyalty to the Unseen Court, and the fear that Thisraldion might have in fact killed Rock after all.

Duly chastened, Nyves led them to a dark, tangled corner of Clover, inhabited by the darkest (and weathiest) of fey, where they met a sinister talking mushroom who cast several spells over the severed finger before confirming that it was indeed a simulacrum. “Born out of an egg.” This led them to recall a rumour they had heard on first arrival and they went to visit Falgo the Henkeeper, whose magical, illusory eggs had been stolen around the time of Rock’s murder. A pot-bellied leprechaun, Falgo was still fuming and confirmed that his eggs could be used to create a copy of a person. All you would have to do is say the right words and crack one over their head. His chickens were enormous; their eggs ostrich-sized. Uru bought one in return for the promise to track down the thief.

Before trying to find Aric de Rocha, the elf who found Rock’s body, they decided to look into other witnesses who might have seen Rock (and anyone else) enter or leave the Krog Tunnel at the time in question. This took them some time, and the day wore sharply on, but eventually they learned the name ‘Balder Norther’ – a street drinker who had gossiped a lot about seeing Rock enter the tunnel that night. Uru listened to the city’s whispers and discovered that Norther was in a stadium on the other side of town, the mirror image of a similar structure in Slate.