In which we use the campaign setting creation method employed in our very first gathering to bring this story arc to a close, setting it up for future continuations.
When this session started, we decided as a group to bring the current campaign to a close. There were quite a few reasons for this, of technical, scheduling, and personal matters, and they are too many to go into. We decided to use the same simple system we employed when initially writing up the setting to also bring this arc to a close. Everyone was given 13 tokens, and we went around the table making factual statements about the outcome of the arc. This time, we also employed a simplified version of the Verses "Aspect Card" mechanics. If a player introduced a statement and another player disagreed, they could evoke aspects and roll dice, and the winner's version held true.
Here is a better-sorted collection of all the established facts of the Arc's outcome:
Resolving the Island Encounter
- Captain Daylen wins the fight against the crazed Vladoun, using the only bullet in his ornamental gun to deliver the winning strike. He gets his missing sword back, too, and somehow manages to huff the man's soul.
- Khazimir wins the fight against Lady Marthulian, but she escapes. In the battle, Khazimir's griffon steed is slain, but he gains Marthulian's mount instead.
- Aeroica and her new ward survive, and Aeroica now has possession of the mirror. When she screamed, it was because it showed her her new purpose... and that purpose lied in the Dusk!
- Navigator ships converge on the island and blow it up. From the cloud of explosion fly the heroes - but they're not on Oblivion! While the actual method of escape is unclear, it is established that it takes them through the Cloudsea and into the Dusk!
- The folks who rescue them include Duncan and Krig, the inept fellows who tried to hijack them in the first session. Alas, the two are slain during the escape attempt, but the remnant of the crew that helps the PCs out joins up with them, doubling their current number. One of their number is also a rogue Navigator, complete with living astrolabe, and another is an ancient, high-ranking member of the Majan Order, by the name of Irosla Marinkovich.
- All of the PCs escape alive, as does the young girl assigned as an apprentice to Aeroica, who is established as being of the same ethnicity as Khazimir. Calvo escapes with a different contingent, but is still an ally. However, they are not the only survivors! Lady Marthulian and her agents escape upon Oblivion, and she even has managed to acquire one of the eggs!
- The heroes still manage to escape with their payment and gear, too, and stole a couple of valuable Sect artifacts in the process.
- Aeroica is now "in" with the J'Khen Cloud Mystics, gaining them as a steady resource for her character. It is revealed that the J'Khen are in fact the mythical "8th Sect" of the Majan Order.
- The Mirror acquired by Aeroica is revealed to be one of the Great Artifacts of the Majan Order. Through her continued possession of it, she gains an enhanced power of targeted procognition.
- Captain Daylen has acquired a "Fetching Moustache" which is used as a 2pt Steady Resource.
- Daylen's gun is repaired, and is now in full working order.
- The story of Khazimir's past remains unknown... to all but Mihoaela.
- The heroes are still together with the escape crew, and have since signed up as private contractors with The Expedition, using the legitimacy of the guild to keep them hidden.
- Some days after the escape and return to the Skies, Daylen gets a letter from Ninotchka, containing information about her being his daughter, and a hand-made figurine of her for his collection.
- The "Spiral Illness" begins to slowly spread throughout the lands of the Skies. In fact, it overtook one of the Navigator ships that fired on the island. Even worse, today one of the crewmen of the heroes' vessel has it, but no one knows it and it has yet to manifest.
- Daylen's wife's soul begins to manifest in his mind in both sad and dark manners. This is only made worse by one of the crewmen being the spitting image of her!
- The heroes still have possession of three of the eggs. They have learned how to use one of them to travel through the Cloudsea, and Mihoaela has grown to understand the deeper powers of the fire egg. They have learned that there are a total of seven eggs, and they were created as part of an ancient, sinister plot to destroy the Skies. Possessing multiple eggs can potentially allow the user to combine them and unlock new abilities.
- Aeroica is now in an artifact-hunting quest which will most definitely take her back into the Dusk.
- The heroes are now hunted by both the Imperial Remnant, the survivors of the Castiroyan Sect, and the bulk of the Guild of Navigators. The Castiroyans, however, and very afraid of Aeroica, for unspecified reasons...
- In 100 years time, this crew and their exploits will be legendary
Hooks for the Future...
I really really x10 want to revisit these characters and this setting. I'm a bit disappointed with myself for stepping back into the GM role for this, especially since the system in use wasn't intended to have someone take that position. At this point, I intend to return the Verses system to the drawing board, and use the mound of technical notes produced by this campaign to refine it. Once it is in a fully-collected format, I'll release "Beta 1" as an open play-testable game, and try to see if groups completely unconnected to myself will try it out.
For this particular setting and the characters from this campaign, I hope to return to them either in a collaborative effort (Universalis, perhaps, or a return to a more clarified Verses incarnation), or as a player with someone else GMing things.
