As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
[closed] [PBP] [DW] The Merry Freebooters of Ditchwater
Glazius
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The Merry Freebooters of Ditchwater
or, the Diverse and Sordid Adventures of those who, Being in Dis, resolved Still to Be
When you select "New Game" from the opening screen,
Where there are Cities, Dis is. Where there may be built Cities, Dis will be. Where Dis has been, Cities are no longer. Or at least, Cities are no longer... entirely Themselves.
-- Lord Montingstoke XVIII, On Our Home And Prison
Dis, the grand and terrible, the Sultana's jewel and her curse, the last bastion and the first destroyer.
If I said "Sigil: City of Doors" or "The Citadel" or "The Gallimaufry" or "The Infinity Fair", you would probably be picturing something like Dis: a grand confluence of civilizations, of styles and cultures and peoples and goods and hopes and dreams. A city of cities.
Of course, there's a catch to Dis that you're probably not picturing. Would it help if I said "Traverse Town"? Perhaps a little; everything in Dis has survived some great calamity to be there. But that calamity is, well, Dis. Dis touches other planes through their cities, but eventually, inexorably, it devours them, and no one knows what happens to the parts of those cities that don't survive the process.
There are two truths to Dis: there is always more and it is never enough. New bits of cities pop up in Dis all the time, creating new "parishes" - little capsules of past civilizations with their own confused people, who rapidly become just more people. But all those people need things. Food, clothing, shelter, and whatever else. When they lived in cities, those things would come from the country. When they live in Dis? Well, in part, those things come from you, freebooters.
When you wish the OP would cut out this metafictional BS,
Alright, cool. This is a game of Dungeon World. Play-by-post, and all of that. It's about a free group of adventurers in the interplanar nexus/prison/parasite/whatever of Dis, the weird contracts they have to take on in order to make ends meet, the strange and deadly places they have to go to fulfill them, and the many odd misadventures they have trying to get the job, do the job, and get paid.
But it's kind of a superset of Dungeon World.
Character Creation -- The Basics
What class can you play? Subject to GM approval, you can have any playbook you want, as long as it's publicly available. The basic playbooks from http://www.dungeon-world.com/ are available, of course, but if you've got a particular offshoot you want to play, just run it by me. Here are some ports for a Planarch superhero game which are perfectly good classes in their own right (just ignore the part about character creation) and here's a roster from Inverse World with some special guests. (Playbooks provided for purposes of forums game only, all rights reserved to the original publishers, please do not freely redistribute.)
You'll be a starting character as far as gear selection and all that goes, but you'll be starting at level 2, which means you get 1 move off of the advanced list for the playbook, and can pump a stat by 1 -- if you do it to your 8, 12, or 15, that'll bump the bonus up 1, which is the thing you'll be actually rolling. Or you can bump your 16 and shoot for 18 assuming you live to see level 3. There are a couple of other special caveats, such as:
What race can you play? Well, if you look at the hero hack, you'll see they don't have racial moves, instead having a heritage section. Think of it as kind of like a druid shapechange except you're changing into yourself - roll +WIS at a session boundary or whenever you exercise your rites of blood and tradition to get hold, and spend it to exercise your heritage, just like that. As you gain a new appreciation for your heritage, you can change or add moves to the list of things you can spend heritage hold on.
What race are you? On Dis, any old words for that you might know are starting to lose their meaning. Love is hard to find, and any two* thinking beings determined enough to bring a child into Dis aren't going to run short of determination when it comes time to find a way to create that child. Not that you can't have come about the conventional way, but if you want to be the product of an affair between a sentient shade of blue and a particularly astute tree frog, that's fine too. The only limitation is: you have to link a picture of yourself. Work-safe, please and thank you.
How crazy can you get with your past? How wacky is too wacky? Well, just keep in mind, whatever you make, they are still residents of an all-devouring interplanar prison. As long as you make somebody who could say that "Dis, the grand and terrible" line and sincerely mean it, you're safe.
How do you come up with heritage moves? Well, I'll be glad to do that for you, just tell me some interesting things.
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
(*Or more. I'm not judging. Or perhaps less? Perhaps even, given the weirdness of all reality, none at all? You'll still have to tell me three interesting things, but you can substitute other formative figures during your early years.)
What about bonds and alignment? Those are going to work a little bit differently. You know how advantage works in the new D&D right? Roll 2d20, keep the best?
Well, in Dungeon World it's "roll 3d6, keep the best 2", or I think 3d6k2 in Geth-parlance.
Alignment's simple. Just pick it from your playbook options as normal. And when you draw on your alignment to do something to further it, and your alignment isn't exhausted, roll with advantage and then exhaust your alignment. You'll refresh it at session break to roll it again. Or, if you haven't exhausted it by then, maybe pick a new one?
Bonds are a little more complex. You won't start with any of them written out. I mean, you can plan who else they might be with, that's cool. When you draw on a bond with someone to help them, pick an unexhausted bond of yours. It's with them, so mention how it applies, then exhaust the bond. They'll roll with advantage.
Or if they've already rolled (not with advantage) and the total was a 6 or 9, you can "save them". Or, y'know, try. Same overall shape, pick a bond, mention how it applies, exhaust it. Then you roll 1d6, and it replaces one of their d6. Yes, no matter what. And also, you're in the soup with them, whatever the final result winds up being.
Exhausted bonds will refresh at a session break, and you can rewrite one or more of them if the situation has evolved.
Just one rule. You can't have more than half your total number of bonds (rounded down) dedicated to any one person at any one time.
Scenario Creation -- Love Letters from the Heart of the Dreamer
And now that we know what you are and who you are, let's set you up inside the company. When you sign up, decide what role you're going to take, and make its associated move. You can choose freely! ...well, almost freely. Whoever gets the first pick is in charge of The Job. It's what you get for volunteering.
When you got The Job, there were a few offers outstanding:
Now, as play opens, you'll be coming back to Dis after having done The Job, so you'll have to make a second roll for how the job went, which I'll detail once the first roll shakes out.
Everybody else, pick one of: The Kip, The Noise, The Spects, The Score. We'll be capped at 5 players, at least to start with.
The Kip is where you crash when the job's done. It's in Ditchwater, which unusually for Dis is exactly as hospitable as it sounds. It's the sort of place people with as much money as you set up shop so they can become people with more money than you. Well, or dead. Or worse.
When you take charge of The Kip, tell me who was desperate or greedy or naive enough to let space to a bunch of freebooters who can vanish into a plane and not be back for months. Also tell me how you usually deal with your landlord, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. See, someone's moved in. On a 10+, introduce everyone to your new neighbors. On a 7-9, I'll introduce everyone to your new neighbors. On a 6-, I'll introduce everyone to your new neighbors and what they did to your furniture.
The Noise is the people you have to worry about. Well, the people you have to worry about right now.
When you take charge of The Noise, tell me about the group that most fancies themselves your rivals or opponents, friendly or otherwise. They could be another group of freebooters, or a gang or cult or minor guild. How do they identify themselves? When did your rivalry start? What are they usually up to? Also tell me about how you usually keep an eye out for them, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ they've been largely quiet. On a 7-9 they're up to their usual tricks. On a 6- I'll introduce some new power that's taken you by surprise while you had your attention elsewhere. That's the thing about The Noise. There's always more.
The Spects is your edge in getting future work. You're only worth as much as the next job, after all.
When you take charge of The Spects, tell me about the thing you have that's totally going to be the key to lining up some nice jobs in the future. Some object that'll let you explore planes few other people can? A secret that few other people know? Contacts that few other people can access? Also tell me how you set it up and maintain it, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ it's given you a solid lead that the group might choose to pursue right away. On a 7-9 you'll need to do some legwork, same as always. On a 6-, things have gone dry and I'll tell you why, and give you a lead on a new set of spects.
The Score is how you get paid. Dis operates on the silver standard, and there's generally a ready supply of coins stamped with the Sultana's face. But the thing with silver is it's impersonal. That is, it's not necessarily tied to your person, and if anyone were to, say, steal or loot it, it would work fine for them. Therefore, often in Dis, and more often in Ditchwater, payment is done in barter or in more esoteric currencies, like keys to safe storage in the Infinite Vault or ceramic gaming chips from a variety of chance palaces.
When you take charge of The Score, tell me about the weird way you're getting paid and how you negotiated payment. Pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ what you get paid in is largely interconvertible with the coin of the realm. On a 7-9, tell me who you have to see (or what you have to do) to cash in your payment for something people will more readily accept. On a 6-, I'll tell you.
I'll keep signups (!signup when you post) open for at least 24 hours, and/or for 6 more hours after I get a fourth person.
or, the Diverse and Sordid Adventures of those who, Being in Dis, resolved Still to Be
When you select "New Game" from the opening screen,
Where there are Cities, Dis is. Where there may be built Cities, Dis will be. Where Dis has been, Cities are no longer. Or at least, Cities are no longer... entirely Themselves.
-- Lord Montingstoke XVIII, On Our Home And Prison
Dis, the grand and terrible, the Sultana's jewel and her curse, the last bastion and the first destroyer.
If I said "Sigil: City of Doors" or "The Citadel" or "The Gallimaufry" or "The Infinity Fair", you would probably be picturing something like Dis: a grand confluence of civilizations, of styles and cultures and peoples and goods and hopes and dreams. A city of cities.
Of course, there's a catch to Dis that you're probably not picturing. Would it help if I said "Traverse Town"? Perhaps a little; everything in Dis has survived some great calamity to be there. But that calamity is, well, Dis. Dis touches other planes through their cities, but eventually, inexorably, it devours them, and no one knows what happens to the parts of those cities that don't survive the process.
There are two truths to Dis: there is always more and it is never enough. New bits of cities pop up in Dis all the time, creating new "parishes" - little capsules of past civilizations with their own confused people, who rapidly become just more people. But all those people need things. Food, clothing, shelter, and whatever else. When they lived in cities, those things would come from the country. When they live in Dis? Well, in part, those things come from you, freebooters.
When you wish the OP would cut out this metafictional BS,
Alright, cool. This is a game of Dungeon World. Play-by-post, and all of that. It's about a free group of adventurers in the interplanar nexus/prison/parasite/whatever of Dis, the weird contracts they have to take on in order to make ends meet, the strange and deadly places they have to go to fulfill them, and the many odd misadventures they have trying to get the job, do the job, and get paid.
But it's kind of a superset of Dungeon World.
Character Creation -- The Basics
What class can you play? Subject to GM approval, you can have any playbook you want, as long as it's publicly available. The basic playbooks from http://www.dungeon-world.com/ are available, of course, but if you've got a particular offshoot you want to play, just run it by me. Here are some ports for a Planarch superhero game which are perfectly good classes in their own right (just ignore the part about character creation) and here's a roster from Inverse World with some special guests. (Playbooks provided for purposes of forums game only, all rights reserved to the original publishers, please do not freely redistribute.)
You'll be a starting character as far as gear selection and all that goes, but you'll be starting at level 2, which means you get 1 move off of the advanced list for the playbook, and can pump a stat by 1 -- if you do it to your 8, 12, or 15, that'll bump the bonus up 1, which is the thing you'll be actually rolling. Or you can bump your 16 and shoot for 18 assuming you live to see level 3. There are a couple of other special caveats, such as:
What race can you play? Well, if you look at the hero hack, you'll see they don't have racial moves, instead having a heritage section. Think of it as kind of like a druid shapechange except you're changing into yourself - roll +WIS at a session boundary or whenever you exercise your rites of blood and tradition to get hold, and spend it to exercise your heritage, just like that. As you gain a new appreciation for your heritage, you can change or add moves to the list of things you can spend heritage hold on.
What race are you? On Dis, any old words for that you might know are starting to lose their meaning. Love is hard to find, and any two* thinking beings determined enough to bring a child into Dis aren't going to run short of determination when it comes time to find a way to create that child. Not that you can't have come about the conventional way, but if you want to be the product of an affair between a sentient shade of blue and a particularly astute tree frog, that's fine too. The only limitation is: you have to link a picture of yourself. Work-safe, please and thank you.
How crazy can you get with your past? How wacky is too wacky? Well, just keep in mind, whatever you make, they are still residents of an all-devouring interplanar prison. As long as you make somebody who could say that "Dis, the grand and terrible" line and sincerely mean it, you're safe.
How do you come up with heritage moves? Well, I'll be glad to do that for you, just tell me some interesting things.
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
(*Or more. I'm not judging. Or perhaps less? Perhaps even, given the weirdness of all reality, none at all? You'll still have to tell me three interesting things, but you can substitute other formative figures during your early years.)
What about bonds and alignment? Those are going to work a little bit differently. You know how advantage works in the new D&D right? Roll 2d20, keep the best?
Well, in Dungeon World it's "roll 3d6, keep the best 2", or I think 3d6k2 in Geth-parlance.
Alignment's simple. Just pick it from your playbook options as normal. And when you draw on your alignment to do something to further it, and your alignment isn't exhausted, roll with advantage and then exhaust your alignment. You'll refresh it at session break to roll it again. Or, if you haven't exhausted it by then, maybe pick a new one?
Bonds are a little more complex. You won't start with any of them written out. I mean, you can plan who else they might be with, that's cool. When you draw on a bond with someone to help them, pick an unexhausted bond of yours. It's with them, so mention how it applies, then exhaust the bond. They'll roll with advantage.
Or if they've already rolled (not with advantage) and the total was a 6 or 9, you can "save them". Or, y'know, try. Same overall shape, pick a bond, mention how it applies, exhaust it. Then you roll 1d6, and it replaces one of their d6. Yes, no matter what. And also, you're in the soup with them, whatever the final result winds up being.
Exhausted bonds will refresh at a session break, and you can rewrite one or more of them if the situation has evolved.
Just one rule. You can't have more than half your total number of bonds (rounded down) dedicated to any one person at any one time.
Scenario Creation -- Love Letters from the Heart of the Dreamer
And now that we know what you are and who you are, let's set you up inside the company. When you sign up, decide what role you're going to take, and make its associated move. You can choose freely! ...well, almost freely. Whoever gets the first pick is in charge of The Job. It's what you get for volunteering.
When you got The Job, there were a few offers outstanding:
- The wizard Stalwart the Green wanted you to protect the wizard Green the Stalwart. They share a bond, where one knows when the other is in danger. ...but not really a lot more than that. You'll have to track Wizard Green down yourself.
- Ashcrown is a distant parish, a smoking caldera on the horizon. They're always at war with someone or other. A sheet of coded orders is consistently manifesting in the local pub, despite all attempts to dispose of it. It seems to be the work of a spirit, and somebody's got to take the thing to Ashcrown or it'll never go away.
- The Church of the Rogue Moon is headquartered in a tower directly under the eponymous Rogue Moon, a red-violet light in Dis's ambiguous sky. A holy relic of theirs was stolen, and all divinations point to the Cult of the Rogue Sun, which they've never heard of. Find the cult's hideout and get back what they stole.
- The notorious scofflaw and free-verser Blank the Blank is planning to give a guerilla theatrical performance at a mysterious building that was recently... added... to Dis, which looked by all appearances to be hewn from a single block of blue marble. She's paying well for a map of the place, including acoustics.
Now, as play opens, you'll be coming back to Dis after having done The Job, so you'll have to make a second roll for how the job went, which I'll detail once the first roll shakes out.
Everybody else, pick one of: The Kip, The Noise, The Spects, The Score. We'll be capped at 5 players, at least to start with.
The Kip is where you crash when the job's done. It's in Ditchwater, which unusually for Dis is exactly as hospitable as it sounds. It's the sort of place people with as much money as you set up shop so they can become people with more money than you. Well, or dead. Or worse.
When you take charge of The Kip, tell me who was desperate or greedy or naive enough to let space to a bunch of freebooters who can vanish into a plane and not be back for months. Also tell me how you usually deal with your landlord, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. See, someone's moved in. On a 10+, introduce everyone to your new neighbors. On a 7-9, I'll introduce everyone to your new neighbors. On a 6-, I'll introduce everyone to your new neighbors and what they did to your furniture.
The Noise is the people you have to worry about. Well, the people you have to worry about right now.
When you take charge of The Noise, tell me about the group that most fancies themselves your rivals or opponents, friendly or otherwise. They could be another group of freebooters, or a gang or cult or minor guild. How do they identify themselves? When did your rivalry start? What are they usually up to? Also tell me about how you usually keep an eye out for them, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ they've been largely quiet. On a 7-9 they're up to their usual tricks. On a 6- I'll introduce some new power that's taken you by surprise while you had your attention elsewhere. That's the thing about The Noise. There's always more.
The Spects is your edge in getting future work. You're only worth as much as the next job, after all.
When you take charge of The Spects, tell me about the thing you have that's totally going to be the key to lining up some nice jobs in the future. Some object that'll let you explore planes few other people can? A secret that few other people know? Contacts that few other people can access? Also tell me how you set it up and maintain it, pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ it's given you a solid lead that the group might choose to pursue right away. On a 7-9 you'll need to do some legwork, same as always. On a 6-, things have gone dry and I'll tell you why, and give you a lead on a new set of spects.
The Score is how you get paid. Dis operates on the silver standard, and there's generally a ready supply of coins stamped with the Sultana's face. But the thing with silver is it's impersonal. That is, it's not necessarily tied to your person, and if anyone were to, say, steal or loot it, it would work fine for them. Therefore, often in Dis, and more often in Ditchwater, payment is done in barter or in more esoteric currencies, like keys to safe storage in the Infinite Vault or ceramic gaming chips from a variety of chance palaces.
When you take charge of The Score, tell me about the weird way you're getting paid and how you negotiated payment. Pick a fitting stat, then roll and add it. On a 10+ what you get paid in is largely interconvertible with the coin of the realm. On a 7-9, tell me who you have to see (or what you have to do) to cash in your payment for something people will more readily accept. On a 6-, I'll tell you.
I'll keep signups (!signup when you post) open for at least 24 hours, and/or for 6 more hours after I get a fourth person.
(legacy)The Merry Freebooters of Ditchwater -- Dungeon World - Die, Monster! -- Inverse World - The Princess's Expedition
Glazius on
+5
Posts
When you act despite an imminent threat or suffer a calamity, pick a stat, tell me what it says by it, and roll it.
- +str: Tell me what you're trying to push, and what you hope doesn't break. (feel free to get metaphorical. You may be trying to push the merchants around and hoping you don't break the peace)
- +dex: Tell me what you're racing against, and what you can't do to win. (either can't as in incapable or can't as in unwilling)
- +con: Tell me why you could do this all day, and why you really don't want to.
- +int: Tell me what fact your plan hinges on, and why you can't possibly be wrong. (The "possibly" is in massive, massive sarcasm quotes.)
- +wis: Tell me what you're focusing on, and what you mustn't ignore.
- +cha: Tell me whose sympathies you're playing to, and why they should even care.
Or if you think it's obvious from context, just roll +the stat you chose, and I'll fill in the answers.---
Another quick note on Discern Realities: in the post where you ask Geth to doom you roll, ask one question and tell me how you're working out the answer. Actions, thoughts, or both if you're feeling generous.
You can go back and edit in additional questions as the results warrant, and you don't need to go through the whole spiel for them. But having the question and your method will help me give a cool answer, as well as drop the consequences when if you fail.
---
A quick note on the advantage/disadvantage mechanic I have going here. If you're affected by both at once (you'll never be affected by multiples) you can either roll 2d6 normally or roll 4d6 and keep the middle two, whichever you'd rather. And there might be reasons to do either, depending. (Unfortunately IIRC there isn't really a friendly notation for "the middle two", so you'll have to do your own maths there.)
---
Quick note EX Plus Alpha -- this game is pseudo-open. I don't expect more than a post a day out of anybody, but all the same this is an episodic game about a company of freebooters. If you've got a month of intense personal commitments, give me a day's notice and I'll give you one or two choices to make to drop out back in Dis, wherever you've moved your headquarters to. And as long as there are less than five total people running, if you'd like to join up, drop me a private message and we'll go through character creation, and you'll show up at a convenient time and we'll discover the bonds that have always existed.
Current headquarters:
- Octagonia's workshop (compressed), Ditchwater
Current company assets:- one cask emerald incense-wine (5/6 measures remaining)
- one significant favor from the Aspirants
Current roster:- @Capfalcon, Etana the Lantern inactive
- @Grog, Koba the War Machine
- @jdarksun, Skoll the Brute inactive
- @wildwood, Glory Wanders the Showboat
- @AustinP0027, Ajax the Weaponmaster
- @Boozer, Xeno the Wonderworker
Current offer status:Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Twitch Stream
Etana is a priest of Sola, an almost forgotten deity, as Dis devoured her sole plane of worship. Now, Etana is struggling to minister to the few faithful left while returning Sola to the prominence she so deserves. However, both of those things require money and prestige, so he's fallen in with this lot. Still, she's sworn to bring Sola's light to all who would need it... and if anyone needs her grace, it's these disreputable louts.
As for the Job, Blank the Blank is a bit too fond of blasphemy in her works. Not against Sola in particular, but I think it's poor form to encourage blasphemy against other deities. I'm not about to lead the district in driving Blank out or anything so melodramatic as that, but things would have to be quite desperate for me to consider actively helping her. So, I follow up with the others, letting my celestial charm smooth over any misunderstandings.
Thankfully, the Church of the Rogue Moon was sympathetic to my own plight, respecting the symbiotic relationship that sun and moon have in the multiverse. But, personally, I was interested in the job because of the involvement of another sun worshiping religion, even if they were supposedly the culprit. It was quite possible that there was a much more benign explanation. Moons and Suns often trade relics back and forth, and this could all be a big misunderstanding.
...Well, one can hope, right?
Twitch Stream
...which is odd in this particular case, as it replaces your background. If you like the existing move, we can make it part of your heritage and call it, say, remember the glory of light, which will pump up your light weaponry for a scene. Need two more, though.
Koba the Warmachine
Curious Eyes
Heavy Tunic
Wrapped Skin
Lanky Body
Drive: Crusader
Use a device or machine in a way it was not meant to be used.
Bonds:
I let Etana pilot my suit once. Never again.
Heritage:
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
My father wished to see me take up the mantle of High Commander of the Necronautical Armada, ensuring our conquest of the underworld.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
My uncle stole me away from the Ectotactician's Academy. He was the only one who saw the foolishness of a campaign against the afterlife.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
The morbid humour of the scribes, who would teach me lewd jokes while they etched runes into the bone walls of the ossuary.
Str- 8 (-1)
Dex- 12
Con- 13(+1)
Int- 16(+2)
Wis- 16(+2)
Cha- 9
Damage: d8
Armor: 2 (in suit)
HP: 19/19
Stygian Conqueror Mk VII
An early model of the standard Necronautical suit which, due to extensive tampering, uses it's ectoplasmic engine to manifest a weapon to suit any occasion. Resembles an oversized set of plate armour, reinforced with bone and emitting the faint wailing of ghost-fragments.
Primary Weapon: Full Arsenal
Movement method: Jumper
Advanced Systems: Covered Cockpit
Moves:
-Mechanical Suit
-Hold Together
-Let Me See That
-(Cameo)Battle Instincts
Gear (Load: 4/18):
Bag of Books (5 uses, 1 Weight)
Bandages (3 uses, slow)
Dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight)
Toolkit (1 weight)
Big Wrench (hand, 1 weight)
Koba's in charge of the Noise because if anyone's going to be watching their back it's someone whose parents can come back from the dead. She's been keeping a beady eye out for the Motti Gang, a group of insectile humanoids who have taken a shining to Quark ever since we moved into the Ditchwater. She can usually smell the foul bootleg nectar they manufacture a mile off (or at least hear their distilleries explode) but lately they've taken to sneaking around by moonlight. Fortunately their furry manes and dusty carapaces leave plenty of trails to show they've been lurking.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for The Moths Are Not What They Seem (+Wis)
Shrouded eyes
Mighty thews
Strange tattoos
Scavenger's outfit
Heritage:
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
My birth parents were killed by bandits when I was young; my father rushed them and grabbed the blade of one of their swords, blood pouring from his fingers while he yelled for us to run. My mother threw herself in front an errant bolt that strayed towards me. Whether it was the one thing they wanted to pass on to me or not, it is what I will always remember them by: their vigilance and their sacrifice.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
Gabriel took custody of me and taught me of my parents, even though he never approved of their relationship. He never let that bias influence his portrayal of them, their deeds, or their love for each other.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
A local lordling's son took particular pleasure in tormenting the less fortunate in our ward. He was murdered by one of his victims after he abducted her on her wedding day. I hope she made him suffer.
Str: 16 (+2)
Dex: 9 (+0)
Con: 16 (+2)
Int: 12 (+0)
Wis: 13 (+1)
Cha: 8 (-1)
Damage: d10
Armor: 2
HP: 24/24
Drive: Responsibility
Help someone understand your anger
Moves:
Can't Weigh Me Down
You ignore the clumsy tag on armor you wear.
Madder Brute Get...
Anger churns deep within you, fueling your abilities. Choose two fonts of anger. When acting against the source of one of them, if you would roll for a move, instead of rolling 2d6 you roll 1d6+1d8. If the d6 is the higher die of the pair, the GM will also introduce a complication or danger that comes about due to your anger.
* Endangering the innocent
* The misery of yourself or others (maybe "Unjust oppression")
Too Angry To Die
You take +1 ongoing to last breath rolls. When you take your last breath, on a 7–9 you make an offer to Death in return for your life. If Death accepts he will return you to life. If not, you die.
Stronger Brute Get!
While you wield a weapon it gains the forceful and messy tags.
Strongest One There Is (Con)
When you stand in defiance of your enemies, roll +Con.
* On a 10+ they treat you as the most obvious threat to be dealt with and ignore your companions, take +2 damage ongoing against them.
* On a 7–9 only a few (the weakest or most foolhardy among them) fall prey to your taunting.
Merciless (via Mainline Cameo)
When you battle without honor or humanity, deal +1d4 damage.
Gear
Your Load is 24.
* Dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight)
* A dagger (hand, 1 weight)
* some token of where you’ve travelled or where you’re from
* Two-handed sword (close, +1 damage, 2 weight)
* Reinforced armor (2 armor, 3 weight, clumsy)
(still thinking on The Kip, The Spects, or The Score)
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Alright @Grog ! Your heritage moves are:
- command the undead
- ride the flows arcane
- read behind the runes
Command the undead is your pop's legacy. This is a drill-sergeant-style "ON YOUR FEET YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN!" command - you can make the undead act, almost reflexively, in simple ways, and it in no way suspends their understanding of the situation or their memory of what you have done.Ride the flows arcane is Unc's legacy. In an area sufficiently thick with magic, you can grasp the flows and fly freely, even in your suit. There may be "currents" which push you a certain way, and even in magic-poor areas, like, say, Ditchwater, you have a chance to spot a thread that can get you close to where you want to go.
Read behind the runes comes from your parish, because everything was written by somebody. When you have time and care to examine a sample of writing, you can ask me one question from the Charming and Open list and I will give you a truthful answer about its author at the time they wrote it.
- watch unflinching
- mark their guilt
- remember your love
Watch unflinching comes from your parents. In addition to the literal invocation of it, like temporarily no-selling an attempt to blind or misdirect you, you can also Discern Realities about anything you can see, even for an instant, without the need for close study.Mark their guilt comes from your parish. When you physically confront someone, I will tell you what they're most proud of or what they're most ashamed of, my choice.
Remember your love comes from Gabriel. Its use should be obvious.
"Unjust oppression", sorry about that. As compared to "just oppression", which is, like, if you're in chains because you stove somebody's head in and the Road Wardens arrested you.
Yeah, don't bother with that, it was just for the superhero scenario.
Bright Eyes
Flowing Hair
Flowing Clothes
Toned Body
Drive: Warden
Put yourself at risk for the sake of a friend or lover.
Bonds:
Koba realizes just how great I am.
Ajax has his own, rough style. I can still make it better.
Xeno can see my future. I’m sure it’s all good.
Heritage:
Tell me the thing one parent most wanted to pass onto you and why.
Uncle Mose took great care of me when I first transformed into flesh. He taught me about the frailties of flesh, how different it is from a body of stone.
Tell me the greatest thing another parent ever did and why only they could do it.
The Wizard of Spots, who may also have been the one who changed me from stone to flesh, cast me out of my home town, and told me to return when I had collected enough stories to match all the ones I'd heard in town. No one else could have forced me away from home.
Tell me the one thing you'll always remember about the parish where you grew up.
That electric hush that would come over a crowd in the town square, when a storyteller drew them in.
Abilities:
Strength: 9 (+0)
Dexterity: 16 (+2)
Constitution: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 9 (+0)
Wisdom: 12 (+0)
Charisma: 16 (+2)
Level: 3
Damage: d8
Armor: 1
HP: 21
Load: 7
XP: 4
Moves
A Lover In Every Port (CHA)
Daring Devil (DEX)
Parry (DEX)
Plan of Action
True Love and High Adventure
Anything You Can Do...
Now I Have the Upper Hand
Special Moves
Ensepheron's Resounding Seeker - when you execute the Dodge Roll action directly at an enemy tense yourself for a ground-covering lunge, you can Hack and Slash any enemy within Near range, and you'll be right next to them when the attack finishes... which may be a good or bad thing, depending on how you rolled. Also, unless you hit a 12+, or choose the "open yourself up to an enemy attack" option on a 10+ but forego the bonus damage, you'll create a notably loud shockwave.
Gear
Rations (5 uses, 1 weight)
Duelling Rapier (close, precise, 1 weight)
Shining Armor (1 armor, 1 weight)
Hidden Stiletto (hand, 1 weight)
Adventuring Gear (5 uses, 1 weight)
Map
Bandages (2 uses, 0 weight)
6 coin
Coil of clockwork wire (1 weight, being held by Ajax)
Odd Prism of Purple Resin (standing invitation from Amnopoquerius of the Leaves)
The Beacon (2 weight)
A Dangerous Secret
The priests at Calypse Tower made emerald smoke by pouring ceremonial wine into some kind of device.
(This one's a wanderer, so probably not good for the Kip. Either the Spects or the Score works for me - if Glory runs the Score, then we're using stories as currency.)
Alright, @wildwood , here are your heritage moves:
- be less than flesh
- be more than stone
- tell the greatest story
Be less than flesh is from Uncle Mose. You're aware of flesh and what it means, but as you experienced the needs of flesh and learned how to meet them, you realized that, on some level, you were just pretending. And when you don't feel like doing something that flesh does, like eating or breathing or being tasty to predators, you can stop. For a little, anyhow.Be more than stone is from the Wizard of Spots, or perhaps your original sculptor? You're not entirely sure there, but you still contain the dream of what you could be - a statue that is more than one perfect moment, that can find and be its own perfect moments, as flawless as stone and as fluid as flesh. A part of you can touch that, for one fleeting second.
Tell the greatest story is from your parish. Though, uh, it's not the greatest story. It's just a tribute. And, you know, while the greatest story means anything to anyone, you've got to pick and choose for your audience. But it's pretty great, all the same. There is no added compulsion in the words or anything, but a tribute to the greatest story does tend to command attention, all the same.
Twitch Stream
Alright then, @Capfalcon . Here are your heritage moves:
- command the (x)
- escape from restraint, bondage, or captivity
- remember the glory of light
Command the (x) is from your mother's side, and represents your celestial heritage. Your ancestors served a god who controlled some part of the natural world - the sea, the winds, the soil. You can still touch that power, though Dis being Dis, your commands may be confused or weakened as they're carried out. But, I mean, pick the part.Escape from restraint, bondage, or captivity is pop's specialty, and is pretty straightforward, I think.
Remember the glory of light is from your parish, and that moment by the shore. It will strengthen your light during the scene, no matter what you turn it into.
And hey, let's see how The Job goes for you. The trail led you into the parish of Neversky -- the trail after the cult, or after the actual thieves who impersonated the cult to create a false initial trail. Take your pick. (No, seriously, you'll get to take your pick.) In the end you'll have something to report to the Rogue Mooninites, but exactly what is up to you. Well, and the dice. But also you.
You're going to confront the responsible party and recover the artifact, but there's always more than that to a job in Dis.
Tell me what else was dangerous in Neversky - darkness cultists, thieves' guilds, rogue constellations? You'll be adding +wis to keep your team safe.
Also tell me what else was rewarding - stardrop herbs, celestial gold, ancient secrets? You'll be adding +int to help get your score.
Then roll 4d6. Distribute them as you wish.
Also, I mean, you've got the whole crew there. @Grog, @jdarksun, @wildwood, up to two of you can help with this. Tell me something else dangerous or something else rewarding, if you want to help, then roll 1d6, which can (if you do it before) or must (if you do it after) replace a die @Capfalcon assigns to that category.
Also to @Ringo and any other lurkers out there, the team is starting to gel, and there is one more spot, so speak now or forever hold your peace.
And then... they just gave it back, and the one eyed halfling said they'd be back to steal again it in a month. Which... was a bit unexpected. But, I don't think any of us are the type to balk at an easy payday.
What else was dangerous 5+2+1 =7
Now, the church of the Rogue Moon hadn't exactly explained what we were picking up, so the fact that we had to cart a large, stone egg (literally, we had to put it in a cart) all the way back was a real pain. All the way there were people stopping and asking what was going on and even some gangs that tried to jump us while we were distracted hauling the egg.
What else was rewarding: 5+2+1 =7
Once we explained what happened, the Rogue Moon cultists huddled together, whispering to each other. I couldn't tell if they were happy or not, but it was a very animated discussion. They actually seemed to forget about us for a moment, and have to be reminded of our presence. They shoved a bag of shining stones into our hands and hurried us out. Upon closer inspection, they appear to be solid moonlight.
Twitch Stream
One gentleman was so grateful for Koba's straightforward summary of inter-parish politics (despite a lengthy digression into poly-chthonic ambiguities) he handed over a cask of emerald wine. Little did he know the stuff was prized by temples of all stripes as a powerful incense.
Geth, roll 1d6 for Something Else Rewarding
Glory took charge of The Score by getting the favorite history and teaching stories from the cult's main story keepers. We agreed on a basic set of stories, with the understanding that, the happier they were with how we did on the job, the better and more detailed the story telling would be.
The stories were clearly of use to Glory, of course, as long as they had something distinct and interesting about them. The big question is, did others have an interest in Rogue Moon stories, too? Or were there enough other story connoisseurs out there to make these something to trade with?
Geth roll 2d6+2 for cult story liquidity (+cha)
Post-Roll: the dice seem to remember me.
---
Skoll, take your pick of The Kip or The Spects.
---
Etana, your score is now definite. You grabbed all three: the moonlight stones, the emerald wine, and a lesser but liquid payment from the Temple in a currency of your choice (likely silvers, as they're big enough that cash isn't dangerous for them to hold). You managed to stop Glory from trading away all but one of those immediately for storytimes. Which one did you keep?
---
Glory, so, bad news. The Church of the Rogue Moon is well-established enough that the market has reached what you might call a saturation point for their stories. We're talking mass-market paperbacks here. But that didn't stop you from getting a tale from the best storyteller they had bar-none. Your call who that is, I'm thinking "ageless metallic sculpture-being" but you can draw your own conclusions.
See, the thing about the best storytellers is that they know the story, and they know the story behind the story, and they tell it to make you think about so much of the broader world behind it. So you have a dangerous secret.
Here's the skinny. What people call the Third Apocalypse of the Rogue Moon? That's not a prophecy. It actually happened, and closer than anyone thinks. The Church of the Moon originally landed in Dis, and as the only moon in Dis's sky they were frequented by all manner of creatures who had some kind of affinity with the moon but had to resort to various excursions and simulations to enjoy it.
Among those creatures were the Wayfarers, a largely peaceful race of cat/rabbit-esque people, about half your height, who lived in symbiosis with their reflections on the moon, whom they lived as in dreams... or something like that, anyway, it's hard to tell when the poetic gets literal. More than any other moon-affinity people, they crowded into the parish we'll call Moonview and lived their lives in full for a happy but brief while, building a sister temple on the moon and a network of portals to connect it to Moonview.
No one knows how it all soured - if the moon was just too different, if Moonview was just too different, if some other absorbed parish tainted the sky, if something seeped into the spaces between - but the Wayfarer's Dreams on the moon turned suddenly monstrous, attacking everyone else moonside and storming the portals back to Moonview. It was only through tremendous effort and sacrifice on the part of the Sultana, the Road Wardens, and no doubt various unnamed legions of freebooters that the moon, now the Rogue Moon, was shoved through the sky almost the full length of Dis and spun, so that the sister temple and all its structures were now on the dark side. This broke the connection between the Wayfarers and their dreams and invalidated many of the existing portals.
It was so long ago that it is now forgotten, enduring only in allegory and perhaps as a secret for a small number of people in the Church of the Rogue Moon. Moonview has a different name now, and the Church moved and rebuilt with its moon, to the parish of Calypse Tower. The Wayfarers are not welcome in Calypse Tower, and it is taken as fact that this is so, yet another old grudge between parishes, so ancient that nothing survives but that fact of the grudge itself. Perhaps some of them know what will become of their dreams if they sleep beneath the gaze of the Rogue Moon, but they too keep this secret.
But there's an ancient temple, and an ancient battlefield, on the other side of the Rogue Moon, where no-one can see. Who knows what strange monsters yet survive there? Who knows what forgotten treasures and priceless relics await? And here is how to open a portal to it:
Through a twice-bowed archway, view the moon.
Through a blue lens, through a red pane of glass, through an emerald smoke, view the moon.
With the sign of peace, reach out, and the door will open.
There are no twice-bowed archways in Calypse Tower. But they're not uncommon elsewhere.
---
Still waiting to see if someone wants to help with the dangers, and for anybody on the fence about joining to take the plunge for the last spot.
Tags: @Grog, @wildwood, @Ringo, @jdarksun, @Capfalcon
Octagonia mainly takes payment in help around the warren, and in not asking questions or staring. The last bit can be tricky, especially when she wants you to hold a large copper sphere over her head that you swear is getting hotter as you hold it but you're not allowed to read whatever it is she's engraving onto the bottom of it.
Minion, roll 2d6+2 for exhausting manual labor
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
And when you came back, she'd reinstated The Dukes. Bodies hung by intricate wire-and-gear-work from the brasswork spheres, now mounted on the ceiling. She's got what appear to be the proper seals from the Last Gatesmen attesting these deaths are by neither her hand nor her malice, same as the first time. Same as the first time, they're slowly being stripped of flesh by her spawnlings, even as they seem to consult with each other and order the spawnlings around. Same as the first time, she doesn't explain why she's doing this - part of her lifecycle, power play, nervous reflex - and you've got no idea quite what it accomplishes either.
Same as last time, The Dukes occupy most of the space your current quarters do, and their walls have been slid on tracks and pivots to be much smaller. Different from last time, you've put a lot of things, major and minor, into your quarters as they expanded.
Now, Octagonia claims that she's "losslessly compressed" your living space. And you can clearly see all of your stuff and none of it seems broken or damaged, even if some of it is wired to the walls or ceiling. And it's likely entirely possible for all of you to walk inside and not break anything as long as you stand very, very quietly. Maybe you could... sleep in shifts?
Or maybe you need to be a little more confrontational than last time.
---
Right, before I forget completely, @wildwood, @jdarksun, you can totally mark XP for those.
And the potential for #5 is completely free, now. I'll advertise again in the general thread and keep that potential open until tomorrow night. At which time someone is going to have to pull double duty for The Spects.
After all, as pretty as moonlight is, it's only a pale reflection of Sola.
Twitch Stream
Somebody still needs to take charge of The Spects.
And since nobody wanted to help with the threats on The Job, Etana, tell me a thing. With a more unwieldy package to take back to Calypse Tower, did you go slow and careful (but nobody's got rations) or push on recklessly (but everybody starts at half HP)? Note that either way you won't start back at Ditchwater in much position to Make Camp.
tags: @Capfalcon, @Grog, @wildwood, @jdarksun
I don't have eyes everywhere, so it's taken some clever placement and no small amount of translation work to figure out who needs something doing (and whether it's worth the pay).
__
This is the Spects roll in case that wasn't clear.
Twitch Stream
Etana or some other likely sort, tell me about the rough auspices where the jobs are got in Ditchwater. Do you all meet in a bar? Is there a multistory obelisk covered with the papers of various discussions and notices? Does a needy sort drop ten silvers and a flask of goldenmead into the nearest Susurran anchorite's cell and then their message reverberates through Dis's ceramic veins?
Anyway, while you were out:
- Stalwart the Green has packed up and left, leaving not even a notice behind. Perhaps Green the Stalwart has made it through danger safely, perhaps not at all, perhaps Stalwart the Green simply grew frustrated and brushed the dust from his feet, job-boardically speaking.
- The message for Ashcrown remains. Now it's tangled with another one, stamped with the sigil of the Aspirants, begging someone to... come free their souls. The Aspirants are one of the larger freebooter companies, all trying to come to the notice of the Sultana that they might be rewarded, in death if not in life. Members won't exactly betray each other, but there's no love lost if somebody happens to fall by the wayside either. So, maybe the message itself is some kind of soul-geas if you take it, and that may be the better option, because the alternative is that something this group of Aspirants encountered had enough power to ward off Death and the casual attentions of the Sultana.
- Looks like the Motti Gang was busy taking Blank the Blank up on his/her/their offer. Because now there's a marble figure with a left arm, a right leg, and a stellated octahedron for a head -- and graffitied with some doggerel in Blank's signature antiquan script -- offering a bounty for confirmed information on the whereabouts of Blank the Blank and a list of associates matching the rough descriptions of the Motti Gang. Ferreting Blank out might be a pipe dream, but you could find and sell out the Motti Gang if you wanted them to think worse of you than they do already.
Also, Koba, Dis has a hojillion secret means of communication within itself, but the missives from the neighbor planes, the ones Dis is touching freely enough that portals through are becoming common, tend to be a lot more ad-hoc and therefore more vulnerable. Here's what you've got:- The Toll Collectors' Guild are at it again - this time they've decided to set up in the neighbor plane of Halitica. The Sultana allows free trade to and from any plane that touches Dis, because they may as well get used to the place they're going to end up, and the Toll Collectors' Guild ignores that entirely and sets up shop on the common gates outside of Dis where the Road Wardens can't go. Eventually a petitioner can bring this to the Sultana's attention, or perhaps the plane itself will be absorbed, but one merchant, Krevar Scarsalver, got fed up with how long it's taking and is asking for bravos to break the siege.
- Nail-Jaw Anthes was a hired killer or a hired protector, depending on who you talk to, though a lot more people will say "killer". But he paid his dues to the Last Gatesmen and that means that he and his last story will be interred in Dis. Well, once someone retrieves his body from the Shoal Fortress in the neighbor plane of Tyranthis Far and pieces together the story of what he was doing there - all the Gatesmen know is that his lifeseal was broken there.
Ask me one question from the Discern Realities list about either of these ones, Koba, and you'll take the usual +1 forward when acting on the answers.And, you know, more generally, Glory, Etana, Koba, Skoll: you're back in Ditchwater, your quarters are suffering a severe headroom and also other-body-part-room deficiency, you needed the last of your rations just to trek back into familiar surroundings, and the phenomenal bounty you expected has significantly dwindled in exchange for a lead of unknown provenance. What are you doing?
---
tags: @Capfalcon, @Grog, @wildwood, @jdarksun
---
Minion, roll 2d6-1 for Parley
I'd like to use mark their guilt here.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
It doesn't seem like your initial argument has done much to sway her, but at least you know that whyever she needs the Dukes it isn't something to be ashamed of?
As for Heritage, roll +wis for me? You start out with 3 charges on a 10+, 2 on a 7-9, 1 on a miss, so no matter what you at least had the one.
---
Anybody want to try and write a bond to help him? It is almost impossible for you to fail. (Incidentally, Skoll, still no idea exactly what you look like, unless the avatar's a clue.)
Anybody else who wants to use Heritage, feel free to roll for charges now or the first time you use them, it makes me no nevermind as you always get the one free chance to charge them up each session and you'll always have at least the one from that. You do have to partake in your personal rites to go for additional charges before a session break, though, and in addition to whatever you tell me they entail you'll need at least some time and care.
tags: @jdarksun
Glory steps up next to Skoll and tuts at Octagonia. "We appreciate you not breaking our things, my dear, but still. We need our space back. We can hardly help around here if we've nowhere to sleep, now can we?"
Geth roll 1d6 for backing up Skoll
The spawnlings that were actively attending to the various Dukes all suddenly break off of them and converge on the one who if you understand topology correctly is right behind the rear wall of your current living quarters. They all lay into him at once (well, you're assuming a 'him' based on the title Octagonia gave the corpse, anyway), and you can kind of get a glimpse inside the body - kind of greenish bones, or maybe that's the light, and the viscera don't look rotted or bloated so much as desiccated. He might have been twice as big as you and Skoll put together while he was alive.
It won't be long past midday, she says -- and for reference it's late morning now and the tides are starting to come in, opening the gates to olfactory adventure in the streets outside -- but the Last Gatesmen weren't going to send anyone for the bones for a while yet. Also for reference, burial crews tend to need an escort in Ditchwater, on account of fresh bones (as Koba could likely tell you) are almost as good for many arcane pursuits as fresh bodies. If you can make sure it reaches them, you'll at least have enough room to stretch out and sleep tonight, though digging through your various personal effects may still need some contortions.
This guy's going to be 6-weight, easy, even bound up in spare wire and packed by someone who can think about twelve different parts fitting together at once. You will have his cerement seal, and as long as Octagonia has not been lying to you about the legitimacy of the chain of corpse custody (which certainly sounds like something to be ashamed over, Skoll) crossing you while you're transporting the bones will be equivalent to crossing the Last Gatesmen. And that matters, but it would matter more in a place where "ignoring the long-term consequences" wasn't the parochial pastime.
---
So, Glory, Skoll, remember that your Load adds your strength modifier, not the raw score, and decide who's going to take him and where you're going to go look for the Last Gatesmen.
Also decide if you want to hang around while a Duke is getting processed to try and maybe make sense of the whole thing and what it means in order to get leverage on Octagonia. And maybe also lose your lunch.
tags: @wildwood, @jdarksun
The Sussuran anchorite messaging service sounds way cooler than anything I could come up with. Koba totally would have attempted to scry on their 'in tray' before they started warbling about it.
I'll ask What should I be on the lookout for? with regards to the Nail-Jaw Anthes job. Koba's never heard of the fortress before, but it sounds dangerous.
And finally I'll get my heritage roll out of the way.
Geth, roll 2d6+2 for Heritage
Still grumbling about Glory's foolish trade, I make a beeline for the herald monolith, the large basalt crag jutting out of the center of the ward. Paper, stone, tanned skin, whatever writing you put on it is absorbed into the rock and appears engraved on the monument. Tapping one of the entries with intent to take the job makes the instructions flake off, leaving you with a durable scrap of stone.
Shame about Stalwart the Green, as that would have probably been her next choice. Getting involved with Blank is a nonstarter for Etana, as we're just as likely to end up the subjects as her next ribald verse. So, that leaves the Ashcrown simply by process of elimination. Also, a priest should be concerned with souls being waylaid, right?
I almost tap the request, but I hesitate. The nature of the message is slightly disturbing, and I don't want to touch it until I'm sure we're going to take it.
Yes, better to meet up with the others and make sure we're all on the same page. Skoll and Glory seem to be trying to negotiate some better arrangements with our current host, so I'll not disturb them. However, Koba's bent over a worktable, reading all sorts of strange instruments. Which, from the little time I've spent with her, seems to be a common occurrence.
I say, "Since we didn't get as much as we were hoping to get, I was thinking of taking the Ashcrown job. Probably mentioned it, but it's the one about that district over there," (I wave my hand vaguely in it's direction) "that has a sad addiction to conflict. But, there was some marching orders that kept popping up in the pub, and the only way to get them to vanish for good is to actually deliver them. But... some Aspirants else took the job while we were gone, and now there's another job attached to it, to 'save their souls.' How's that sound to you?"
Geth, roll 2d6+1 for Heritage
Twitch Stream
"Well aside from the political complications of delivering orders to a warring parish, saving souls is no easy task. Depending on interspacial friction and local ego diffusion- hold these please-" She passes the light-bearer a finger-bone stylus and pot of ink before rifling through a partially Duke-engulfed cupboard "-there might not be enough left to save."
"Although-" She punctuates with the thud of tome on table "I'm sure I have some diagrams from Dermond's Metaphysical Anatomy in here somewhere..."
--
I think the Ashcrown job is a good choice short term, as it's the most likely to turn into a messy situation if we leave it. I did have my heart set on learning more about the Last Gatesmen from the Nail-Jaw job, but it sounds like something we can keep on the back-burner.
Gonna use one of my book charges to pump this roll.
Geth, roll 2d6+3 for Spout Lore (Soul saving)
Twitch Stream
Tyranthis Far is a watery plane, with little dry land to speak of and nothing really, like, minable. Its primary native race is amphibious, fairly physically imposing, and builds entirely on land. Largely to reduce the available angles of attack from the megafauna.
What do they build out of? The megafauna. Does that honk off the megafauna even worse than some hypothetical alternate universe where they didn't? Probably, but Tyranthis Far was not exactly rich in other options. With the influx of trade from Dis, they've begun to construct cities from things that probably aren't corpses, and that's almost certainly accelerating the pull of Dis compared to some hypothetical alternate universe where they didn't, but Tyranthis Far was not exactly rich in other options.
And now that they can kind of direct the megafauna, they've built fortresses to draw their attacks and fight them as time and tide and wind and wave bring them near to one shore or another. As Swell Season approaches.
But the Shoal Fortress was well clear of Swell Season when Nail-Jaw Anthes died. So what should you be on the lookout for? TREACHERY.
Also, a digression on souls and the trapping thereof.
In the neighbor planes and the farther outliers, it's possible for souls to be trapped in natural or constructed things, against their will, and not be able to break free and pass on. But that's not the case in any parish of Dis proper. When souls are trapped, something is exerting its will to keep them trapped. So what can keep a soul trapped?
Well, a stronger soul that wants to linger can certainly corral some lesser ones. Say, someone who died violently with unfinished business. Or, say, someone who died violently trying to stop that first someone from finishing their business. And there's always the possibility that someone's doing it through the force of their magic. Or, more likely, through the force of their magic and a menu of rituals and arcane implements that serve as a kind of necromantic block-and-tackle.
But you can look at the contract without it having any lingering affects, and you have the necessary tools and knowledge, so why don't you tell me what's going on here?
- Their souls are trapped by the same spirit that wants to deliver the message in the first place.
- Their souls are trapped by a more different spirit. You won't get a name, but you'll pick up a trace to compare against other spectral phenomena.
- Their souls are trapped by magic, pure or amplified, and if it's amplified you can identify at least one method they're using.
- Their souls are trapped by means not dreamt of in your philosophy. That is to say, you don't know how, but at least you've ruled out everything you do know.
---tags: @Grog