Due to the hectic nature of the last few weeks, I was unable to get an AP report up for the third session of our Saturday campaign. However, since the last two sessions have both been part of the same extended scenario, combining their reports makes it easier to collect my thoughts. So here we go!

The Cast

• Alex, playing the part of Captain Daylen Forgrun.
• Gaston, playing the part of Calvo Sotelovich.
• Nathanael (me), Arbiter, playing the part of Mihoaela Tatiana Kojimirin.
• Nievita, playing the part of Aeroica Mindal Tsvetkov.
• Scott, playing the part of Khazimir ibn Zalikahn.

The Story Thus Far...

In our last episode, our heroes set to following directions from a mysterious shifting skychart they had stolen from some Navigators in Dartenspire. The map leads them to a storm-shrouded, charred rock of an island, upon which they not only find a second piece of the map hidden in a buried storage cave, but they are also ambushed by a pair of inept would-be hijackers. They quickly discover that another ship has been chasing them since Dartenspire, commanded by a stranger from Khazimir's past. The stranger and his inept henchmen are apprehended and placed in cells, hints at connections between the charred island, the stranger, and dark events from Daylen's past are revealed, deeper revelations at the possible powers of the mysterious eggs are drawn out, and the crew sets forth to see just where this map is taking them.

The Story Continues : Episodes 3 & 4 - The Hidden Sect of Castiroya

For this scenario, I took a different approach to the setup, and have temporarily turned my position as Arbiter into a more traditional Game Master role. "Definite Stakes" - the ability for players to affect the meta-story through conflict stakes - have been turned off, limiting players to "Open Stakes" for the duration of the scenario. Meaning, players' stakes should be more along the lines of "I do X because of Y" than "I do X because of Y and Z happens." Additionally, the ability of players to set up new scenes has been turned off as well.

My purpose for this is to place player control of metaplot and conflict solely within the realm of the Complication Tokens, an test that mechanic's versatility. Additionally, I'd like to see how the system works (and fails!) when adapted to a more classic Gm/Players adventure game paradigm. Thankfully, because this is ultimately one big play test, there is no wrong data. The results were pretty much as I expected them to be, but I'll get to that later.

Anyway, on to the game!

Scene 1: The Prisoner Escapes!

This scene dominated practically the entirety of Session #003's playtime, and was quite massive in scope. A lot of things were happening at once.

The scene opened in a mist-covered nighttime sky, the ship sailing slowly through the fog. The crew was split, with Calvo and Khazimir above deck at the Helm and Watch, respectively, and everyone else below, most likely asleep. The two henchmen have already been marooned on another island along the way, with the prisoner from Khazimir's homeland still contained for further observation.

As the scene moves along, three major Scene Conflicts are introduced. The first involves a stranger on the deck, wearing dark robes and a bizarre tribal mask. The second involves the prisoner (named Veldoun) escaping, stealing one of the eggs, stabbing the captain with his own sword, and somehow disabling/stealing/destroying the "Arogni" spirit which resides in the ship's Urn - aka, stealing the juice behind the ship's engine. The third is based on the second, and involves an out-of-control ship which must be gotten under control somehow or the whole crew dies a corrosive and painful death in the Cloudsea below.

The scene ended up being mostly one long (really really long) string of Versus rolls. In the end, Veldoun got away with the ship's escape dingy, the stranger (who controlled the Clouds!) was captured after a long and crazy battle against Calvo and Khazimir, and the ship was temporarily powered by Mihoaela blowing her entire reserve of spiritual pact-energy just long enough to bring it to a mostly safe land on a mysterious island hidden in the thick mists.

The stranger was revealed to be a woman (gasp!), but apparently an unexpected defense technique kicked in, and she sacrificed herself by melting herself from the inside, as if... as if she were channeling the Clouds or something. When no one is looking, Daylen huffs her soul. Can't forget that part.

A misty jungle filled with the sounds of dangerous life lay before them. With nowhere else to go, they trudge forth into the unknown. End of Scene, and end of Session #003.

Scene 2: Trek Through the Jungle

The next session in this writeup opened an hour gametimewise after the last scene ended. The crew has found the dingy, landed easily and in good condition, hidden by an apparent expert in camouflage. Daylen summons some hidden expertise in tracking from previously-huffed souls, and finds Veldoun's tracks leading deeper into the jungle. Aeroica's spiritual connection to him confirms that the direction is correct. Calvo, however, has set up his living astrolabe, and it seems to be focused entirely on something else in the jungle, a different direction away from them. The crew decides the assassin is more important, and sets to following him.

A few narrowly-avoided traps later, the crew is standing under the belly of a massively gigantic six-legged beast whose upper reaches extend into the mists above. For some reason, the players decided to call this creature a chimichanga. A few moments after that, the crew is surrounded by a couple dozen women of varying ages, all of which are wearing symbols similar to the one tattooed on Aeroica's neck!

After a bit of chat, everyone gathers aboard the chimichanga, the ladies part the fog, and the beast heads full steam towards...

Scene 3: The Shroud Ikonik

Hidden deep within the misty jungle is an ancient terraced temple, covered in centuries of jungle growth. The women lead the crew to this location, and on the way explain a bit about themselves. They are the remnants of a sect of the Majan Order (Aeroica's mystical order) that followed the Great Spirit Mother Castiroya, one of the seven great mothers of the Order, and coincidentally the sect to which Aeroica belongs as well. Over three decades ago, when the Last Dynasty of the Old Empire was overthrown by the Guilds, the Castiroyan elders went into seclusion, as they were the sect most closely allied with the Emperor. Some rumors were spread that they left in search of some legend they called "The Eighth Sect", but those are largely confirmed, and many modern Castiroyans in the Skies today find the notion insulting. These women on the island are the remnants of those who fled some thirty-odd years ago, and they've been here ever since - their manners of speech and style of dress confirms it.

The crew is taken to a separate building to the side of the temple, a sort of guest house where they are not necessarily imprisoned, but kept under watch and seclusion "so as not to disturb the order of those cloistered within". A Majita (the term for priestesses of the Majan Order) named Daughter Veynya is assigned as their representative, and they're told they can speak with the Mothers in the morning. Night falls slowly as they try to figure out just what is up with this place, and shortly into the night the ground trembles with a few small earthquakes, followed by... singing? Aeroica tries to contact the spirits, but they're unresponsive, angry, even afraid. What's going on here?

Scene 4: The Depths of the Temple

That night, after a bit of discussion amongst the crew, Calvo, Khazimir, and Aeroica make plans to get out of their bunkhouse and break into the temple. An interesting Versus is rolled, and the outcome of this test establishes that 1) they sneak out successfully, 2) the get inside the temple successfully, and 3) Calvo meets one of his secret revolutionary contacts while inside. The how and why of it all is played out after the Versus.

While breaking into the temple, they see four winged reptile-things land, each carrying a rider. The lead rider is a powerful armored woman recognized instantly as Lady Marthulian, the Proxy for the last Emperor! Although she's 30+ years older than when she was last seen in her well-known youthful visage, she is quite distinct enough in her appearance to be recognized. With her are three armed men, one of which has a clockwork arm similar to Calvo's. The new arrivals are escorted in by the Majitas of the temple, and the crew follows them for a while until Khazimir realizes that something about this temple's layout feels familiar, if not comfortable to his personal orientation. They break off, follow some unexpected networks of fairly new pipes, and arrive in the basement, to see a disturbing scene unfold before them.

In the depths of the Shroud Ikonik is a great machine, the center of which is a gigantic fishbowl-shaped glass orb, inside of which is a naked and hairless young girl (very similar to the girl who snuck onto the crew's ship!) suspended in a bubbling bluish liquid. The chamber is held in place by thick curved brass girders, reminiscent of a great clutching hand, and a network of pipes and chains rise from the machine into the darkness above. A pair of Uniformed Navigators pace the floor around it, checking gauges and tending to the machine. As the trio of player characters watch, Lady Marthulian and her entourage enter, led by the Majitas, and the players hear a conversation between them about a new source of power, ancient and untapped, nearing the final stages of perfection. Shortly after, a procession of Majitas encircle the machine and wait. Within moments, the girl in the vat awakens, and is fuming with rage and fear. She launches herself at the glass walls that contain her, the liquid bubbling around her as she tries to escape, and the earth around everyone trembles in reaction to her rage. The Majitas raise their arms and begin to chant, and eventually the girl slows down, passes out, and the earth is calmed.

Needless to say, the party is stunned. After a few moments of recovery, they head back to their quarters to plan their next move. On the way, Calvo meets with his contact, a man named Ivanov who explains that the revolutionaries here are now seeking a way off the island, as the sisters of the Order here are getting a bit out of control. Ivanov will meet with Calvo again very soon.

The scene and session end as the crew gathers together again in their sleeping quarters.

Technical Notes

The night before session #004, I met with Nievita and Scott to discuss the state of the mechanics, specifically the Aspects and their role in the Versus rolls. After much very fruitful discussion, the Aspects were drastically changed from being a pool of dice to a set of cards with a random core mechanic similar in spirit to Paper-Rock-Scissors. The dice pool remains, but is now separate and universal, and not linked directly to individual aspects. Dice of multiple sizes were introduced as part of this new mechanic. Session 4 saw a lot of fiddling with the new idea, and so far, I'm impressed and satisfied. A few minor tweaks and considerations need to be made, specifically in the area of one-sided Versus tests.

During one the the breaks in session 4, Gaston suggested that we try playing a future session of this campaign with a completely different system, so as to see exactly what the differences are that we're going for. I agree, and I intend to run the next session using Savage Worlds - which, ironically, was the system used for the initial incarnation of this setting's basic premises, back in the beginning of this year.

The next session of this campaign is scheduled for September 22nd. I intend to begin next time after the events set up by the last two sessions come to a head and resolve, and run the session with a series of flashbacks mixed into the currents.

- Nathanael Phillip Cole