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TOPIC: The Legend of Manek & Shahrul
The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 2 weeks ago #420
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In this thread I am going to post a session-by-session account of what probably was the first campaign of Blade of the Iron Throne ever played. I hope that it will entertain, but mainly that it may serve as an example of how we mean certain game mechanics, namely Passions, Drama, and Complications, to be used.
This thread is locked for greater ease of reading the accounts of play, but if you have any questions about what went on, or just like to comment, please do so in the Manek & Shahrul thread. This is also where you can find the character sheets of this little story’s two protagonists. |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil The topic has been locked.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 2 weeks ago #422
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The Legend of
Manek the Giant and Prince Shahrul
Dramatis Personae
Spoiler Alert! Each entry below is organized chronologically, tracing important events in the lives of the NPCs. If you read an entry too far too early, you might spoil a surprise for yourself. If you want to avoid this, read an NPC’s entry no further than the number of the episode you have already read. Abdur II: Padishah of Khazistan, husband of Sammu-Ramat, father of Shahrul. —- Episode Seven: Reconciled with Shahrul. —- Episode Eight: Slain by Muawiya’s sorceries. Akurgal Hissar: —- Episode Six: Newly appointed satrap of Zul-Bazzir, a possible enemy of Queen Sammu-Ramat. Ghoshir Bey: —- Episode Seven: Chief Justic of Khazistan, one of Queen Sammu-Ramat’s closest allies. —- Episode Ten: Becomes Chief advisor to Padishah Yilzit. Ghuzman Bey: Powerful nobleman, former owner and employer of Manek. —- Episode Five: After Khadim Bey’s death one of the rulers of Zul-Bazzir, murdered by the Brotherhood of the Red Seal. Hareeb: —- Episode One: A cannibal cultist of Ia-Azutlatl who tries to lure Manek to his death. —- Episode Two: Dogsbody terrorized by Manek and especially Shahrul. Isparana: —- Episode Four: An agent of Queen Sammu-Ramat who has clandestine dealings with Muawiya, lover of Prince Shahrul. —- Episode Six: Betrays Queen Sammu-Ramat to Shahrul. —- Episode Seven: Aids in uncovering Queen Sammu-Ramat’s schemes and is awarded the rank of Sipahi. Kerem: —- Episode Six: An agent of Queen Sammu-Ramat who poisons Akurgal Hissar and is captured by the PCs. Khadim Bey: Satrap of Zul-Bazzir. —- Episode Four: Dies of thirst by the machinations of the PCs and the Brotherhood of the Red Seal. Kirdir: —- Episode Seven: The eldest son of Abdur II by a lawfully married wife, the malcontents’ favourite for imperial succession. —- Episode Ten: Executed on order of Yilzit, allegedly for plotting against him. Lord Anulep: —- Episode Two: The awakened shade of a Kuthan sorcerer and nobleman. —- Episode Four: Laid to final rest by Muawiya. Malmiranet: —- Episode Seven: New favourite Yar-Ammonite slave concubine of Abdur II, probably of half-Kuthan descent, claimed by Manek as reward for his part in uncovering Sammu-Ramat’s plotting. Episode Ten: Stoned to death by villagers in the Tomb Hills. Muawiya: —- Episode Four: Powerful sorcerer, head of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal and High Prophet of al-Tawir, seen to be plotting with Queen Sammu-Ramat. —- Episode Eight: Murders Abdur II by means of sorcery. Murad Pasha: —- Episode Five: An ally and adherent of Queen Sammu-Ramat, after Khadim Bey’s death de facto governor of Zul-Bazzir. Nephren Hotep: —- Episode Two: The most powerful sorcerer of Yar-Ammon, a specialist on Kuthan Lore, thwarted by the PCs. Olathoé: —- Episode Nine: A young girl sorcerously created to be as close to the Ancient Kuthans as possible. Sammu-Ramat: Most influential of the wives of Abdur II, mother of crown prince Yilzit, caused Prince Shahrul’s fall from grace as collateral of one of her plots. —- Episode Four: Employer of Isparana, seen to be plotting with Muawiya. —- Episode Seven: Commits suicide after her schemes become known to Abdur II. Yasmeenah: A slave concubine of Ghuzman Bey, object of Manek’s affections. —- Episode One: Fugitive from the household of Ghuzman Bey. —- Episode Three: Lover and dependant of Manek. —- Episode Six: Concubine of Akurgal Hissar. Yilzit: —- Episode Six: Only son of Sammu-Ramat (though not eldest lawful son of Abdur II), inept crown prince of Khazistan. —- Episode Eight: Crowned Padishah of Khazistan. |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Michael.
The topic has been locked.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 2 weeks ago #423
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Episode One:
Feasters in the Dark Before actual play starts, the referee openly Checks to see whether Shahrul’s Poor Connections Asset is going to crop up in this session. The group notes that this will be the case, and play commences. Having only just arrived in Zu-Bazzir, Prince Shahrul takes up residence in the edge-of-town guesthouse of Ekrem Babu. Ekrem Babu tries to turn the shabbily-dressed Shahrul away, but as tempers flare and Sharul throws two pieces of silver (his last ones) into Ekrem’s face, he accepts the guest. Manek the Giant is taken by Hareeb, a recent acquaintance and admitted admirer from his pit-fighting days, to the guesthouse of Ekrem Babu to sample Ekrem’s exotic palm-wine, imported from the black kingdoms. He is surprised to see a young man in clean traveller’s garb with a loaded donkey apparently leave the guesthouse, even though dusk is drawing near. Tired from his journey and disgusted with Ekrem Babu’s clients (apart from Manek and Hareeb just a few blacks sampling their native palm-wine), Shahrul intends to retire early, just as Ekrem Babu meets another arrival at the door. Glimpsing an exceedingly lovely woman past the innkeeper’s bulk, Shahrul becomes interested and demands that she be let in, even though Ekrem Babu wants to turn her away, as the man she is looking for is not here anyway. At this stage, Shahrul succumbs to his Lecherous Asset, shoves Ekrem Babu aside and leads the young woman to his table. Manek and the woman recognize each other; she is Yasmeenah, the slave concubine whose life Manek safed and for whom he has a Passion. The three talk, with Shahrul resenting Manek’s presence but unable to do something about it. Yasmeenah confides that she is to meet here with Selim, her lover, with whom she wants to elope – and Selim is overdue. Manek tells about the young man leaving just as he was arriving, and Prince Shahrul recalls that Ekrem Babu did earlier turn away somebody and that he later did from his room’s tiny window see a young man with a donkey hanging around a nearby copse of palm trees. Yasmeenah says she saw nobody, and both Manek and Shahrul volunteer to look around the copse, with Yasmeenah insisting to accompany them. Even though nobody knows anything about reading tracks, Manek with his uncanny nightvision does still find an expanse of only very recently well-trampled grass (where Selim has reclined waiting), one or two hoofprints, and a quie considerable patch of blood. Secretly hoping Selim dead but wanting to impress Yasmeenah with his efforts, Shahrul demands that an experienced tracker be found right away. Manek knows just the man, and the two, a distraught Yasmeenah in tow, go to get him. Prince Shahrul’s pride (and carnal lusts) demand that he take the lead in hiring the tracker, but he is penniless. Still, he uses the Enslavement Mystery to have the man accept a pebble as a gold coin in lieu of aristocratically lavish payment for his services, and promptly acquires 2 Taint. Returning to the copse, the tracker fails to discover anything new, due to darkness. By now, Manek and Shahrul suspect something fishy about Ekrem Babu – whose guesthouse lies silent and dark by now – and presently decide not to return there. Manek offers to hide Yasmeenah for the night in his rented room in town, and Shahrul forcibly offers his protection. The spend the rest of the night uncomfortably at Manek’s. Come the morning, they leave Yasmeenah hidden in Manek’s rooms, go to get the tracker, and return to the copse, where it is discovered that two sets of short and heavy footprints, as from people carrying a heavy load between them, lead to Ekrem Babu’s garden gate. Their suspicions against Ekrem Babu substantiated, the pair dismisses the tracker. Manek wants to force the truth out of Ekrem Babu, but Shahrul stalls; he would like to use the Scrying Mystery to search the compound, but does not want to give away his sorcerous powers to Manek. Shahrul manages to win time by asking Manek to allow him to go and recover his bow. The two make to leave for Manek’s room as four tired and weary-looking riders in the dusty garb of imperial guardsmen arrive, obviously making for Ekrem Babu’s – as determined by the roll at the outset of the session, Prince Sharul’s Connections Asset has kicked in and his pursuers have caught up with him. At this stage, Manek’s player takes the Passion: Hate for Army of Khazistan, justifying it with his first “stepmother” being killed by a guardsman. Shahrul’s attempts to hide from the imperial guardsmen fail. The four charge into the palm copse, and in the ensuing fight Manek stands at Shahrul’s side, quite probably saving his live. Both take a single lvl 2 wound, but slay all four guardsmen. They then flee the copse, so as not to be connected with the slain soldiers. Both players are awarded 1 Passion (Hate Army of Khazistan & Elude Padishah’s Wrath) for killing the guardsmen. Back at Manek’s, Shahrul lies about the soldiers having been after him because of a personal feud and manages to grab some time alone to work the Scrying Mystery. He begins scanning Ekrem Babu’s compound, starting with the main house, where he finds Ekrem Babu strangely presiding an early and quite lavish lunch of his black slaves. Suddenly, with a successful SY roll, Shahrul notices that the slave sitting opposite Ekrem Babu quite obviously notices and watches his spectral form but tries to not let anybody on to that fact. Shahrul withdraws from the room, and as the slave follows the invisible astral form as if by chance, he decides to withdraw. The referee might have rolled for Shahrul’s astral body being detected, but as this was important to him, he offered Shahrul’s player (me!) a point of Drama to accept it without and before a roll; the offer was accepted. Upon Manek’s return, Shahrul, slowly recovering from the trance, questions the giant about Hareeb, his companion of the previous evening, claiming that he found the man suspicious – when he has in fact just seen him at Ekrem Babu’s table, sitting with the slaves. In the light of recent events, Manek finds that Hareeb has been strangely insistent about taking him to Ekrem Babu’s guesthouse. The pair decide to pay Hareeb a visit. Backstory: After the fall of ancient Ptahaana, a perverted form of the already perverse cult of blood-drinking Ia-Azutlatl somehow took root on the nearby mainland, among the degenerate savages of the Ikuna Swamps. Having bought two of these cannibals as cheap slaves, Ekrem Babu not only found them to be cultists of the Ia-Azutaltl, but was actually induced into the grisly cult with its cannibalistic rites. Under the guidance of one of the two original slaves, Gomba, a witch-doctor of Ia-Azutlatl, he bought select additional Ikunan slaves, and a secret cult of Ia-Azutlatl was formed at Ekrem Babu’s compound. Ekrem Babu, Gomba, the black “slaves” and one or two initiates from among the people of Zul-Bazzir killed and devoured guests of Ekrem Babu to supposedly gain the favour of Ia-Azutlatl and power. Recently, the cult, under Gomba’s guidance, began to select victims for their special properties, which the cultists believe they can take on by ingestion. Their most recent choice fell on giant Manek for his obvious and well-known strength and powerful, titanic presence. Hareeb, one of the cultists, was sent to befriend Manek and to lure him to the guesthouse, where he should be slaughtered. The plan went slightly awry when guests arrived on the appointed evening. Ekrem Babu could turn awy Selim, but the forceful and commanding Prince Shahrul would not be turned away; and, what’s more, Selim was discovered to be hanging around the guesthouse, another possible witness to strange events. When darkness fell, two slaves where sent to silently kill the youth, drag his corpse into the compound to hide, and drive off the donkey. Still, the further events of the evening precluded the killing of Manek. Refusing to let Selim go to waste, the cult made a meal of him, and it was at this meal where Shahrul found them, and was found in turn by Gomba. Recognizing the companion of Manek and fearing discovery, the cult decides to act. They send a team of four cannibal slaves to murder Shahrul and Manek. Spying out Manek’s rooms, they discover that both men are absent, enter, abduct Yasmeenah, and lay in waiting to ambush Manek and Shahrul upon their return. Manek quickly finds out where Hareeb is living, and he and Shahrul break into his tiny house, intending to lie in waiting for him. Searching the premise, they find a small and crude statue which Shahrul can identify as depicting Ia-Azutlatl. In the face of this hint, Shahrul does suddenly realize (his player is informed by the referee) that the lunch he witnessed earlier today was one of nothing but meat; things begin to fall into place. When night falls and Hareeb still does not return, the two suspect that he is staying at Ekrem Babu’s. They decide to maybe use the cover of darkness to break into and search the compound, but first to return to Manek’s to talk to Yasmeenah, whom they have left hidden there; both suspect strongly that Selim is dead and eaten. At this stage, Shahrul’s player (me) takes Passion: Be Indebted to No Man to draw closer to Manek, who after all saved his bacon against the guardsmen. The Passion is intended to kick in whenever Shahrul is repaying a debt and is justified with Shahrul’s arrogance, which makes it nigh unbearable for him to be in anybody’s debt Returning to his rooms, Manek has a clear and early precognition of the ambush and coolly warns Shahrul. When the four cannibals spring upon them, they are met by two ready men; Manek actually caves in the first attacker’s skull with his hammer-fist. The pair doesn’t suffer a wound and quickly slay three of their attackers and seriously wound the fourth. Shahrul interrogates him and shows him that he means business by putting out one of the slaves’ eyes before even asking him anything. The cannibal howls out everything he knows, and Manek and Shahrul learn all of what is going on, including that Yasmeenah has been taken for a juicy meal. They kill the slave and decide to pay Ekrem Babu a visit. Both players are awarded 1 Passion (Crush on Yasmeenah & Be Indebted to No Man) for acting in a way that’s detrimental to them (seeking out danger) but in keeping with the Passions. The pair invade the compound and have several juicy scenes, my favourite being when the black watchman in the garden notices them and Prince Shahrul uses his Enslavement Mystery to hold him motionless (and silent), calmly walks up to him, and cuts him down with his scimitar. The showdown with Ekrem Babu, Gomba, Hareeb, and the three surviving cannibal cultists is almost anticlimactic, due to a string of incredible rolls in the players’ favour and the antagonists’ disfavour. The dangerous Gomba is killed right away and the not especially combat-worthy Ekrem Babu is knocked out cold while trying to scamper away. At least Hareeb manages to escape. A terrified Yasmeenah is recovered and Shahrul throws Ekrem Babu into the kennel of his very own pet hyena. The pair finds some nice possessions of past victims of the cultists (Prince Shahrul’s Loot goes to 2) and also some stone tablets and other stuff from the witch-doctor Gomba, which Shahrul also takes along to look at later. Then they torch the place and leave, both gaining 1 Passion (Crush on Yasmeenah & Be Indebted to No Man). Manek’s player gets the 1 Drama for having had the best roll of the game (discovering the ambush), but nobody gets the point for an exceptionally bad roll. Each has earned 1 Drama and 3 Passion. Shahrul’s player (me) spends 1 Passion point to improve his Occultism Skill and 4 to improve his Scrying Mystery. His changed stats are: Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Occultism 2, Loot 2 Regain Wealth and Power: 2 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 2 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 0 Be Indebted to No Man: 1 Drama: 1 Karma: 5 Manek’s player spends 1 Passion Point to improve his Healing Skill. His changed stats are: Healing 3 Learn About His Origins: 2 Crush on Yasmeenah: 3 Make a Place for Himself in the World: 1 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 2 Drama: 2 Karma: 1 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 10 years 1 day ago by Michael.
The topic has been locked.
The following user(s) said Thank You: IanP., razorccatu
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 1 week ago #588
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Episode Two:
From the Tomb Eight days have passed since the events at Ekrem Babu’s house, and the characters have, together with the runaway concubine Yasmeenah, lain low at some newly rented romms, waiting for some other ruckus in Zul-Bazzir make people forget the copious killings connected with Ekrem Babu’s house. Their injruies have largely healed, and while Manek has tried to respect Yasmeenah’s grief for her lost lover Selim, Shahrul has sated his lust with harlots, slinking away two or three times for some heavy wenching and conspicuous consumption – taking his Loot down to a destitute 1. During this time, Shahrul has also examined the clay tablet and discovered that they are written in encoded Yar-Ammonite. As he does not speak Yar-Ammonite, but the illiterate Manek does, he enlisted the huge man’s aid, and the pair learned two things: The (not yet completely decoded) tablet contains promises of great wealth and power, and handling it gives Manek especially vivid visions, usually of being enthroned or resting in a sumptious chamber. This is where play resumes. The tablet engages with Passions of both players (Learn About Origins & Regain Wealth and Power), so the pair decides to try and decipher it completely. Lacking the corresponding Skill, Shahrul has to do this as an Extended Check using Sagacity as default, which takes an ample half dozen days, after which Manek and Shahrul are both completely healed. The deciphered tablet seems to date from well over half a millennium ago and to be part of a longer account, with earlier and later tablets missing. It tells of a burial of some dread Yar-Ammonite lord by the name of Anulep. Anulep was interred a day or so beyond the outskirts of some oasis in a great tomb built by his slaves, and fabulous riches, items of great power and wisdom, and his entire household accompanied him into the tomb. The tablets close with a prophecy that a distant descendant of Lord Anulep shall one day wake him from the dead; the text seems to continue on another, missing tablet. Manek and Shahrul decide, both for their own reasons, to investigate this tale. As the cannibal cult of Ia-Azutlaltl was clearly interested in the tablet as well, they want to find the one surviving member of the cult, Hareeb, and see whether he knows anything else about the matter. They quickly discover that Hareeb has not been seen this past fortnight, but a day of snooping around gives them the name of Aisha, a cheap hooker and sometimes kept girlfriend of Hareeb, who probably is the person closest to him. Upon entering the dingy den of a tavern where Aisha works, Manek has a hallucination of several Hareebs being in the common room with several lordly-looking Yar-Ammonites being about to kill him. Trying to save their lead, Manek starts a commotion that alarms Hareeb, who is really hiding out in Aisha’s dirty upstairs closet of a room. Hareeb tries to make an escape through the window, but is spotted by Shahrul, who chases after him through the nightly backalleys of Zul-Bazzir. He corners the terrified Hareeb, who offers up no more resistance and intimidates him into spilling what he knows about the tablet. The pair thus learns that Ekrem Babu and Gomba, the leaders of the cult of Ia-Azutlatl, did obtain the tablet by chance from one of their victims, a traveller from Yar-Ammon. By means unknown to Hareeb they managed to find out from whom the Yar-Ammonite had been fleeing to Zul-Bazzir, contact these persons, and enter a partnership with them. Hareeb professes to only know that the slain and devoured Yar-Ammonite had been a partner of the men whom Gomba and Ekrem Babu had contacted, who had upon finding out that the tomb mentioned in the tablet was not in present Yar-Ammon, but in Zul-Bazzir, betrayed his erstwhile partners and absconded with the tablet to find the tomb on his own. Ekrem Babu and Gomba were trying to locate the tomb, but were encountering difficulties, as the borders of the oasis of Bazzir was not what it was in the time of Lord Anulep, some seven centuries ago, and did also not know in what direction from the oasis the tomb lay. Two months ago, they did finally discover its location, but Hareeb professes to know no more than that visiting it the two cult-leaders left Zul-Bazzir southbound and returned on the fourth day. As Shahrul wants to cruelly pry him for details, Hareeb tries to proove his honesty by betraying that the Yar-Ammonite associates have been informed of the discovery and that Ekrem Babu and Gomba have actually been expecting their arrival for about ten days ago. Shahrul had been intending to kill Hareeb, but the abject way in which the man abases himself before him and promises to serve him forever appeals to his vanity and he decides to let him live, though terrorizes him some more with hints at his sorcerous powers. For drawing nearer the tomb, both he and Manek are awarded 1 Passion each (Learn About Origins & Regain Wealth and Power). Guessing that it might be useful and rationalizing that he could have picked that up deciphering the tablet, Shahrul’s player does by spending a point from Be Indebted to No Man purchase Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 2. It is also agreed that the knowledge about Manek’s background the tomb seems to promise and the wealth it most certainly promises do also engage the Passion: Make a Place for Himself in the World. The next day, the pair purchases a camel and strikes out south, Manek promising Yasmeenah to take her out of Zul-Bazzir upon his return as a rich man. Within half a day, they gain the edge of the sprawling oasis of Bazzir. Spending the afternoon, evening, and following morning gathering information from among the semi-nomadic herdsmen living at the rim of the desert, they learn that there seems to be something going in the vicinity Howling Rock, a craggy hill a good day’s journey to the south. Signs of activity have been seen there from far off, and two foreigners have been taking dromedaries laden with water skins into the general direction of Howling Rock; as a matter of fact, the two and their pack animals have once again left the oasis only a short hour ago, just before dawn. Manek and Shahrul hasten after the tiny caravan, entering the desert of pebbles and baked earth. Neither of them is however much of an outdoorsman and they are towards noon spotted by by their quarry. Once again, Manek’s sixth sense warns him in time to shout out, and the two dive to the rocky ground, with two arrows hissing over their heads, one hitting their dromedary – which promptly runs off. By curling up and pressing themselves to the ground, they just manage to squeeze themselves into cover, with their attackers not fifty meters ahead, covered by a small rise that also affords them a decent field of vision. After being pinned under the scorching sun, they notice that one of their enemies is approaching, arrow knocked and covered by his companion, to get a clear field of fire and finish them. Shahrul quickly whispers a plan to Manek, and on Shahrul’s sign, Manek jumps up, followed immediately by Shahrul. Manek is fired at by both men; the farther archer misses outright, but the huge Manek fails to completely evade the closer one’s arrow and incurs a lvl 2 wound to the belly. Shahrul manages in the meantime to make eye contact with the nearer enemy and to successfully use Enslavement on him. Keeping him between himself and the other archer, he order him to “cut down his companion”, follows him up the small rise, and finally steps out of the cover to shoot the bewildered man with his own bow. The other enemy snaps out of his hypnotism, just to be attacked and severely wounded by Shahrul. The injured man is questioned and reveals that he and his companion were members of a party of nine, out of Yar-Ammon, and agents of this country’s greatest sorcerer, dread Nephren Hotep. Nephren Hotep is wise in all things pertaining to the ancient Kuthans, and has sent his agents to unearth a tomb of one Anulep, a great Kuthan lord from the time after the fall of Elder Kuth. The party has for a week now been encamped half a day away, at the Howling Rock, where they are excavating the entrance to the tomb. Once the fabled riches and powerful arcane secrets it is supposed to contain are unearthed, they are going to bring them to Nephren Hotep. After the man has told everything he professes to know, he is slain by Prince Shahrul in typical cold-blooded fashion. At this junction, Shahrul and Manek each receive 1 Passion point (Regain Wealth and Power & Make a Place for Self). Manek and Shahrul press on towards the Howling Rock, which they make by late afternoon. They hide their dromedaries and scale the rocky hill, from its height easily spying the Yar-Ammonites’s camp half a mile distant. They learn that the Yar-Ammonites have obviously unearthed the entrance to the tomb very recently and are now busy removing things from it. As Manek and Shahrul are afraid that the Yar-Ammonites will soon become suspicious if the comrades they sent to fetch water don’t return tomorrow morning at the latest, they decide to raid the camp before dawn. In the meantime, Shahrul will spy out the camp by use of the Scrying Mystery, using the remainder of the night to rest. As they have learned that the Yar-Ammonite party is led by Nathok, a disciple of Nephren Hotep and Shahrul doesn’t want to risk discovery, his astral body watches the camp from a good stone throw away. He discovers that the goods from the tomb have already been packed, apart from a huge sarcophagus, that one Yar-Ammonite seems sick and delirious, another one has been crushed to death, and that still another is being set as watch. Backstory: What happened is that the Yar-Ammonites have opened and entered the tomb, where one of them was crushed to death by a trap. After that they were able to empty the tomb without a problem. The tomb does indeed belong to one Lord Anulep, a sorcerer and true-blooded Kuthan who had been living in the oasis atthe time Zul-Bazzir was being founded. He was a powerful figure in the city’s early days, being venerated as a god, but did not live for long, as he was already of very advanced age for even a Kuthan. Lord Anulep was interred with sorcerous rites, which may or may not have gone awry – this is not known. In any case, when his sarcophagus was forced open, a cloud of choking pestilence arose from it. All those opening the sarcophagus were taken temporarlily sick, but one man remained so, passing out and babbling in delirious fever. What had happened, unknown to anybody, is that Lord Anulep’s spirit has taken possession of the man and is currently struggling to gain full control of him. An ample hour before dawn Shahrul is sneaking up on the sentry, followed in some distance by Manek. Prince Shahrul’s player (me!) makes a mess of his Sneaking Check, failing to get even a single success (with 9 dice!). The referee decides to apply the arising Complication immediately: Shahrul was spotted ten minutes ago, etched against the bright desert nightsky, and the sentry has inconspicuously roused all his companions, who now only pretend to be asleep. So Shahrul is suddenly faced with a lot of ready opponents and taken captive, while Manek manages to slink unseen into the obscurity of the open tomb. In the empty tomb, Manek’s keen nightsight discovers that the sumptuous chamber where he seemed to be reclining in his earlier vision is this very tomb, and promptly has another hallucination of the tomb being restored to its fromer glory. His player is immediately rewarded 1 Passion point (Learn About Origins). In the meantime, Shahrul is very roughly questioned Nephren Hotep’s disciple Nathok, but now pulls off an incredible feat of Falsehood and convinces them that he is just some harmless, curious beduin. Nathok orders his release, but the Yar-Ammonite cutting his bonds patronizes Shahrul in a condescending way, triggering the Khazistanian prince’s Arrogant Asset and having him fly off in a fit of haughty rage and giving himself away. In this moment, the delirious Yar-Ammonite, possessed by the spirit of Lord Anulep, snaps out of the coma, sits up, looks around, and walks straight for one of the packs with items from the tomb. Shahruhl is nigh forgotten as most Yar-Ammonites converge upon their comrade, who pretty much ignores their babbling. As one reaches out to touch him, he snarls something at him in a foreign language (Kuthan) and effortlessly lifts and tosses him a dozen paces against a boulder. Now, with everybody’s attention on the possessed man, Manek stealthily dashes from the tomb to free Shahruhl, who is bursting his arms half-cut bonds. All hell breaks loose. While Shahruhl frees himself with Manek’s aid, the Yar-Ammonites attempt to restrian their possessed comrade, who dashes them to the ground and snatches an oversized (Kuthan) sword from one of the packs. In that moment, the possessed man spots Manek and seems to go apoplegic with rage. Clearly on its own acord, his huge sword leaps from his hand and flies like an arrow at Manek, who does not manage to evade it entirely and takes a lvl 3 wound to the chest. Shahrul and the Yar-Ammonites decide that enough is enough and attack the possessed man to slay him. He rages on against Manek, eschewing defense, but takes a few debiliating wounds without flinching. The sword does plunge at Manek once again, and he takes yet another lvl 3 wound to the chest. Shahrul manages to inflict a killing wound, and while the possessed man crumples, a strange mixture of light and wind issues from his mouth and forms into a tall frayed shape that is a vague crossover between man and whirlwind. It seems to glower for a moment, before speeding off north, in the direction of Zul-Bazzir. Manek and Shahrul and Nathok and his one surviving retainer decide to cease hostilities and talk. By what they have learned from the Yar-Ammonite questioned previously, it is clear that Nathok is lying. He mentions neither Nephren Hotep nor the fact that he is himself somewhat of a sorcerer, claiming to be a common graverobber. He is in no position to refuse splitting the loot, but strongly proposes taking it to Zul-Bazzir to sell it there, splitting the profit. Shahrul and Manek know that Nathok has no intention to fail his master Nephren Hotep, in fact cannot dare to, and is waiting to cross them, but they decide to play along, remain watchful, and see whether they can learn anything from the Yar-Ammonites. Manek is awarded 2 Passion (Learn About Origin & Make Place for Self), and Shahrul is 1 Passion (Regain Wealth and Power) and 2 Drama for both a spectacularly poor and good roll. Shahrul’s player spends 1 Passion to increase Shahrul’s Falsehood Skill. His changed stats are: Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 3, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 2, Occultism 2, Loot 1 Regain Wealth and Power: 4 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 2 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 0 Be Indebted to No Man: 1 Drama: 2 Karma: 7 Manek’s player trades spends 1 Passion point to acquire Riding 1 and exchanges 1 Passion point for 1 Drama. His changed stats are: Healing 3, Riding 1, Loot 1 Learn About His Origins: 3 Crush on Yasmeenah: 3 Make a Place for Himself in the World: 3 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 2 Drama: 3 Karma: 2 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 10 years 1 day ago by Michael.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 6 days ago #731
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Episode Three:
Lord of Madness A mere two days have passed since the events at Howling Rock, and Prince Shahrul, Manek, Nathok and his Yar-Ammonite retainer have reached the oasis of Bazzir, drawing in sight of the city itself. Thinly veiled mutual distrust and feigned companionship are the names of their game. Upon entering the oasis, they have asked around a bit and quickly learned that the whirlwind manifestation of whatever had posessed the Yar-Ammonite tombrobber has swept into the oasis from the desert, but even the tiniest stretch inside of it nobody seems to have seen it. Shahrul speculates that it has taken possession of somebody else, but Nathok professes ignorance of such things. Much to Shahrul’s chagrin, he also learns that a squadron of Imperial guardsmen from Khazabad has arrived in Zul-Bazzir; he fears that they might be looking for him. This is where play resumes. And it resumes with a Precognition Check by Manek, which he passes easily, true to form. He shouts out a warning as Nathok and his companion each try to knife one of the heros. A short struggle ensues, in which the Yar-Ammonites have 1 bonus die each from a previous use of the Prophecy Mystery by Nathok, establishing a propitious moment for the treachery. Still, the pair is slain. Manek and Shahrul, the latter anxious about being a hunted man, sneak back into Zul-Bazzir and to Yasmeenah waiting in Manek’s rooms, where they want to lay low. Manek intends to recover, then sell some of the loot and take Yasmeenah out of Zul-Bazzir and into Yar-Ammon, where he hopes to learn more about his connection to the tomb of the ancient Kuthan Lord Anulep. Shahrul considers accompanying them, as Yar-Ammon is mildly hostile towards Khazistan and he might thus be safe there; and could maybe use the wealth from the tomb to build himself a powerbase in Yar-Ammon, maybe even delivering the objects to Nephren Hotep. But most of all he is interested in the sword from the tomb that kills by itself; such a gift might get him back into his imperial father’s good graces. He convinces Manek that they should attempt to find out about the sword, as knowledge how to use it will make the sword twice as valuable to any party they want to trade it. For about five days (long enough for a healing roll), Manek rests and enjoys the attention of Yasmeenah, while Shahruhl is unable to resist selling off several of the less conspicuous pieces of loot to have a royally good time and studies the objects from the tomb. He also tracks down Hareeb and both terrorizes him and gives him a princely reward. He is to be on the lookout for strange occurrences, anything that might hint at activities by Lord Anulep; Prince Shahrul hopes to somehow be able to wrest information about the sword from him. At the end of the five days, Hareeb returns with news. Every night, several men are slain in Zul-Bazzir’s Yar-Ammonite quarter, and even though each and every one of them was a big, strapping guy, they were seemeingly all overcome easily and brutally mauled into unrecogniceable pulp. Manek and Shahrul decide to investigate the Yar-Ammonite quarter; this is recogniced to engage Manek’s Passions Make Place for Self, Learn About Origins, and Crush on Yasmeenah, and Shahruhl’s Regain Wealth & Power, and (ultimately) Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat. Half a day in the Yar-Ammonite quarter and a single Information Gathering Check yields that all the killed men were inordinately tall, that several mad, crazy, and degenrate members of the Yar-Ammonite community have vanished in the past few days (and are suspected of the killings), and that many madmen from the rest of the city are wandering the alleys of the quarter. At this junction, Shahruhl is accosted by a pretty large squad of soldiers in the employ of Khadim Bey, Zul-Bazzir’s satrap. It is obvious that they are looking for Shahrul and as he seems to fit the description, they question him. Once again, Shahrul passes a Falsehood Check with flying colours and smoothly misdirects the soldiers. For this, he is awarded 1 Passion point (Elude Padishah’s Wrath). Almost immediately after that, the pair is addressed by a Yar-Ammonite priest by the name of Thutmes who claims that an omen has directed him to them. He asks to speak with Manek and Shahrul, and they follow him to his tiny embalmer’s shop plus shrine to Tefnut, Yar-Ammonite guardian of the dead. Here, they learn that Thutmes has read the entrails and learned that unholy blasphemy is threatening the realm of Tefnut (i.e. the local Yar-Ammonite tombs), and that it is also threatening a huge man and his companion, who at the same time are the key to rectifying the blasphemy. This prophecy is in game terms treated as if the Mystery of this name had been employed, and both Manek and Shahrul will get +1 die on all rolls to alleviate the blasphemy. Backstory: The spirit of Lord Anulep has indeed taken possession of another host, a shepherd boy it encountered at the rim of the oasis. Unfortunately, after eight centuries in the tomb, the Kuthan’s spirit is stark raving mad. Once he gained full control of the boy, he wandered into Zul-Bazzir, and here felt himself drawn to the Yar-Ammonite quarter, probably because the architecture there reminds him of ancient Kuth. Again driven by little more than instinct, he wandered where, after being dead for the better part of a millennium, he felt most at home – the Yar-Ammonite tombs. And other instincts are at work in Lord Anulep as well. He dimly remembers important possessions he used to have with him, most of all a sorcerous sword, and he feels their presence somewhere in the city, which he walks in seeking. And he remembers having encountered a maddening abomination: The essence of a noble Kuthan somehow sullied by and bound to one hulking giant of the slave people. This abomination must die. Thus the boy that is Anulep walks the street, slaying with his bare hands any tall man he encounters. On his sojourns through Zul-Bazzir, the presece of the powerful mad Kuthan is, due to some inborn lordship of his race, in some strange way calling out to the madmen of the city, those many degenerates wracked by the ravages of alcohol, drugs, or syphilis, or those born not quite sane. They flock to him, seeking him out in the tomb, somehow compelled to venerate this sorcerous king of the mad. At the end of the talk, Thutmes blesses Shahruhl and Manek – which in the latter’s case takes effect as as the Mending Mystery, but without readily noticeable effect (just 2 Casting Successes). The pair returns to the rented rooms, and on the following day sells some more of their loot, to buy substantial armour. While out and about, Prince Shahrul, who arrogantly refuses to wear inconspicuous clothes, is spotted by a pair of Imperial guardsmen from Khazabad, who recognize him and follow him surreptitiously, to find out where he lives and return with reinforcements. Shahrul does notice them and leads them into a backyard, where he and Manek ambush the guardsmen. Manek is however no use in the short fight, as a hallucination from his Poor Asset precludes him from getting involved. Due to the advantage of the surprise, Shahrul does however overcome them both and receives 1 Passion point (Elude Padishah’s Wrath). Returning to Yasmeenah and uncertain of what the guardsmen know, the pair moves again, to yet another set of rooms. The next day, they begin their search of the interconnected maze of the Yar-Ammonite tombs. At first, they find nothing out of the ordinary, save a haunting that gives them the chills, but is not what they are looking for. Come evening they encounter several crazed people loitering in the crypts. These sorry derelicts do invariably attack Manek, and their crazed behaviour reminds the pair of the first possessee’s reaction to Manek. The pair incapacitates the third such attacker and hauls him out of the tombs, to question him away from their possibly malignant influence. All they learn from his babbling is that he seems to think that he has to slay the “big beast” for the master. Now Manek and Shahrul are utterly convinced of the connection between the madman and the spirit of Anulep, and they release their prisoner on the following morning, hoping to follow him to Lord Anulep. For this step closer to their goals, Shahrul receives 1 Passion point (Regain Wealth and Power) and Manek 2 points (Learn About Origins & Make Place for Self). At this junction, Shahrul’s player (me!) seonds 9 Passion points to increase his TY to 4. The freed madman leads Shahruhl, and Manek, who follows at a distance, right back into the tombs. Here, they encounter a great many of mad, gibbering people, whom Manek largely manages to evade; in Shahrul they are not interested anyway. The pair passes a sleeping Anulep, not knowing that this boy of about twelve years is not just some gutter child, but Lord Anulep’s host. Aroused by the proximity of both Manek and the sorcerous sword, Anulep soon wakes and begins stalking the catacombs himself, seeking Manek and the sword. His agitation is carried over to the madmen roaming the tombs – those nearby suddenly perceive Manek clearly and rush him. The pair defeats the madmen and largely avoids slaying them. Just as the fight is won, a dreamy-eyed Anulep appears. Manek and Shahrul are wary but not hostile themselves, but as Anulep recognizes both the sword and the abhorrent half-Kuthan degenrate Manek he bursts into cold rage. He does however waste precious time commanding the sword to slay – the sword is carried in a newly purchased sheath by Manek and is bound into this sheath with copious strands of strong, but inconspicuous wires – an idea of Shahrul’s. The sword quivers and leaps in its sheath, but is unable to break free. In the meantime, Shahrul tries to use his Enslavement Mystery on Anulep, but fails in spite of an excellent result – and gains 3 Taint in the bargain. Manek charges Anulep in his boy-body and manages to knock him out cold (and seriously crack his skull in the deal). The pair then rushes the unconscious boy to a smith, whom they pay lavishly to forge the boy in many swaths of heavy chains – Manek and Shahrul well remember the strength displayed by the last possessee. At this stage, Shahrul receives s Passion point (Regain Wealth and Power & Vengeance against Queen) and Manek 2 points (Learn About Origins & Make Place for Self). The session winds down with Shahrul and Manek discussing how to proceed. Their attempt to question the bound and blindfolded host of Anulep fails, and Manek keeps Shahruhl from torturing the host body. The pair decide to seek out a powerful sorcerous disciple of al-Tawir said to live deep in the northwestern desert and to try enlist his aid in either questioning Anulep or else banish his spirit forever. 1 Drama is awarded to Shahrul for his excellent – even though unsuccessful – attempt to use Enslavement on Lord Anulep. Shahrul’s player, already having bought up TY during the session, does not expend any more Passion points. His character’s changed stats are: TY 4, Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 3, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 2, Occultism 2, Loot 1 Regain Wealth and Power: 2 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 1 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 1 Be Indebted to No Man: 0 Drama: 2 Karma: 16 Manek’s player trades spends 15 Passion points to acquire the Good aspect of his Giantism Asset. His character’s changed stats are: Good Asset Giantism, Healing 3, Riding 1, Loot 1 Learn About His Origins: 1 Crush on Yasmeenah: 0 Make a Place for Himself in the World: 1 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 0 Drama: 1 Karma: 17 Backstory: What the players do not kow, but are gleefully told by the referee, is that the Yar-Ammonite arch-sorcerer Nephren Hotep knows the Arcane Secret Whisper My Name in Fear. In their planning, Manek and Shahrul have frequenly used his name, and Nephren Hotep does thus know about them, how they have thwarted his servant Nathok, and that they have in their possession not only the loot from the Kuthan tomb, but also an actual Kuthan, or at least his spirit. Nephren Hotep is almost a thousand kilometers distant and thus unable to take immediate, direct action, but he is most anxious to gain for himself the wealth of Kuthan lore the heroes have stumbled upon… |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 10 years 1 day ago by Michael.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 10 years 19 hours ago #806
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Episode Four, Part One:
Death Among the Dunes At the outset of the session, the referee informs the players that she is forgoing to check for Shahrul’s Connection Poor Asset to enter play, but will roll a second time during a session in the near future. The players are further informed that the sorcerer they seek to aid them with questioning Anulep is one Muawiya, High Prophet of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal, and that the Brotherhood of the Red Seal is a semi-secret nefarious cult of al-Tawir, the Ancient One. This particular cult of the already unpleasant deity attracts followers almost exclusively from among the Khazraj nomads, who venerate al-Tawir with human sacrifie, hoping to gain favour with the Sleeper Beneath the Sands. Khazraj sheiks latently oppose the bloody practices, but those who are too unyielding and outspoken in this opposition all meet with grisly ends, at the slavering jaws of demons sent by Muawiya, so it is said. The same fate is also rumored to have befallen the previous satrap of Zul-Bazzir, who was also moving actively against the Brotherhood. Muawiya, the cult’s High Prophet, is said to dwell in the waterless desert about five days northwest of Zul-Bazzir, in a ruined old temple. This is where play resumes. Manek and Shahrul prepare for a journey into the deep desert. They sell off a good deal of their loot from Anulep’s tomb to buy equipment and dromedaries, and also to hire a Khazraj guide, as the pair is lacking in outdoor skills. To control Anulep in his host body, they do not only rely on the heavy chains he is forged into and a blindfold he constantly wears, but buy als copious amounts of Silver Lotus with which they intend to kep him permanently drugged. After two days of such preparations, both characters’ Loot is at 3, and much of the booty from the tomb still unsold. This is stashed with Yasmeenah, apart from the sorcerous sword, which they take along, firmly lashed into its sheath and additionally bundled up in a covering of leather. Guided by Khassek, the hired Khazraj, Manek and Shahrul set out towards the Whispering Waste to find Muawiya. It is decided that this endeavour engages Shahrul’s Passions Regain Wealth and Power & Elude Padisha’s Wrath, and Manek’s Passions Learn About Origins & Make Place for Self. The first two days of the journey pass without noticeable events, but from the second day on, Shahrul uses the Scrying Mystery every evening to scout ahead, spying out the land they are going to traverse the following day, to guard against unpleasant surprises. On the third evening, he thus discovers an encamped band of a dozen Khazrajs who seem to recently have had a fight and who are in the process of binding captives – three men – naked and spread-eagled to stakes set into the desert floor. From listening in, he learns that the three captives are survivors of a group of Brethren of the Red Seal whom the Khazrajs attacked ealier that day, freeing the female sacrificial victim the cultists were taking to their High Prophet. The nomads intend to test their captives’ claims that al-Tawir grants them protection from heat and thirst, watching the desert kill them. Manek and Shahrul see an opening to ingratiate themselves to Muawiya by freeing the captive Brethren. They decide that they have to do it this very night, by stealth: They can’t take on the dozen Khazrajs who are intending to stay and watch their captives die, and they also can’t wait until the next night, as the captives will hardly survive a day under the harsh desert sun. Resting until after midnight, they then move their camp up half the ten kilometers to the Khazrajs. There, Manek knocks their guide Khassek unconscious from behind, as the pair is reluctant to leave him alone with Lord Anulep, even though the latter is drugged. They bind the unconscious Khassek, then move out to free the captive Brethren. Backstory: Not all is as it seems. The rescued sacrificial victim was no such victim at all, but was being escorted by the Brethren to Muawiya. When it became apparent that the Brethen could not stand against the closing Khazrajs, she threw away her weapons and assumed the role of captive, something the victorious nomads were ready to believe, as the Brotherhood of the Red Seal is well known to admit only men. The woman, one Isparana, is in fact an agent of Queen Sammu-Ramat, on clandestine business for her mistress. She intends to wait until the night has well progressed and then kill the sentry, free the staked-out Brethren, and make for Muawiya’s ruined temple. To her misfortune, one Khzarajite waked just as he was freeing the second captive and raised the alarm. It is at this junction that Manek and Shahrul appear on the scene. Nearing the Khazraj camp, Manek and Shahrul hear a commotion and notice that something is very wrong. Manek’s uncanny night vision spies that the Khazraj sentry is down, and two of the captive Brethren, recently freed from their bonds, are just being taken down by the Khazrajs, as is the woman, who seems to be in with the Brethren. Relying on surprise, the fact that they are the only ones wearing armour and hoping that the Brethren will find an opportunity to enter the combat, Manek and Shahrul immediately decide upon quick, mad action against the ten desert nomads. Crouching low to avoid immediate detection, Manek charges, followed by Prince Shahrul, ready to loose an arrow the moment they are being noticed. That he does, taking down one of the men immobilizing a Brother of the Red Seal. In the mad melee that follows, Isparana turns out to be very proficient at arms, the two unshackled cultists are slain, and a single Khazraj manages to flee on a fast dromedary. Manek and Shahruhl each suffer level 2 wound. For drawing nearer their goals, Manek is awarded 2 Passion points (Learn About Origins & Make Place) and Shahrul equally 2 points (Regain Wealth and Power & Vengeance Against Queen). The second point, for the Vengeance Against Queen Passion, is awarded because Shahrul recognizes Isparana as a woman he once spied leaving a secret audience with Queen Sammu-Ramat. Suspecting that Sammu-Ramat may secretly be involved with the sorcerer Muawiya, Shahrul perceives a possible opening against her. While getting to know each other, Shahrul takes the lead in passing himself and Manek off as pilgrims bringing a bewitched boy to Muawiya and tries to create the impression that he is a sorcerer who doesn’t want to let on that he is one. Skilled as he may be at lying, Isparana beats him at Falsehood and discovers that he isn’t telling the whole truth. She in her turn passes herself off as the bodyguard-mistress of an prince from Khazabad who is, since her childhood, a devotee of al-Tawir and who overheard that Khadim Bey, satrap of Zul-Bazzir, was forming an alliance with several Khazraj sheiks to move against the Brotherhood of the Red Seal in force. She claims to have fled Khazabad to warn the cult’s prophet of the threat, but was intercepted and captured. Backstory: An accomplished liar, Isparana stays as close to the truth as possible. It is true that Khadim Bey is moving against Muawiya, but Isparana had only learned so from conversing with her captors. Shahrul hurries to fetch the drugged Lord Anulep and to rejoin Isparana and the surviving Brother of the Red Seal, discharging the immobilized guide Khassek and paying him an indemnity. The next two days are narrated cursorily, but Prince Shahrul fails to resist his Lecherous Asset and is forced to make, against his better judgement, a serious pass at the beautiful Isparana. Right before making the roll, Shahrul’s player decides to go for it all the way and spend 1 Drama on the Lucky Break for Isparana to be seriously attracted to him in turn. Despite this, Isparana, who is on a mission for Queen Sammu-Ramat and distrusts Shahrul, decides to deny her feelings and resist the advances. The prince fails in his attempt at Seduction, leaving both his lust and Isparana’s feelings frustrated. When they set out from the watering whole the on the third day, the Brother of the Red Seal informs them that it is one and a half day until the dwelling of the prophet, and that there isn’t going to be any water until they return here, not even with Muawiya himself. They take along as much water as they can and set out through a completely lifeless desert. On the second day, they draw near and enter an large area dotted completely decayed ruins, often no more than scattered slabs of stone. Draped across the ruins are many hundreds of utterly desiccated corpses – the human sacrifices of centuries. Manek sees them lift their heads and warn them away, but he is the only one to notice that – maybe a hallucination from his Poor Asset. All of a sudden, they are accosted by a rider in red, one of the Muawiya’s acolytes. He bids them welcome, announces that the prophet is expecting them, but currently deep in communion with al-Tawir, and that they are to wait until summoned. He then heads away from the ruin field, leaving the characters alone. Background Information: Muawiya is blessed by al-Tawir; he does not need to drink or eat, and sun and samum cannot harm him. The half dozen acolytes attending him in the ruin field are not so lucky. As there is no water here, they have to constantly head out to the watering wholes and return, only to again head out after a day or two. Some of this is imparted to the characters by the Brother accompanying them. The group spends a miserable afternoon among the ruins and is still not summoned. Worried that their water might run out, Prince Shahrul decides to scout around for Muawiya during they night. He withdraws a bit from the others and secretly practices the Scrying Mystery. He has not quite shifted his consciousness from his body when he feels a malignant presence deep under the sands; moments later, his astral body is grappled by what appears to be the snarling, tortured ghost of one of the human sacrifices. While the two wrestle incorporeally, he sees spirits rise from all the sacricial victims in the vicinity and hurry hungrily towards him. In the ensuing wrestling match, in which Shahrul tries to frantically break away from his opponent before others ghosts can reach him, TY is used instead of all other Attributes – which means that Shahrul is pretty much done for. Without Passions engaged, he finds himself immediately pinned underneath his assailant, whose teeth chew hungrifly into his – incorporeal – flesh. A this stage, Shahrul’s player decides to spend his – last – Drama point for a Lucky Break for some kind of rescue. As an outright rescue without negative consequences is deemed too powerful and too inorganic to effect, the following is decided upon: A searing spiritual flame does suddenly flare up from the resting place of Shahrul’s companions. Seeing this, the ghosts accosting the prince howl in mad fear and flee back into their bodies. A shaken Shahrul immediately returns to his own body, to weak and disoriented to play any part in what happens now: Lord Anulep has awakened. Coming out of his drugged stupor, he tried to break he chains he has been forged into, and upon failing muttered a spell to melt the chains off him, the occult flaring of which frightened off the ghosts. This also wakes Isparana, the Brother of the Red Seal, and Manek, who promptly lapses into another hallucination. As this is decided arbitrarily by the ref, she allows a very easy TY Check to shake it off, which Manek manages. In the meantime, Lord Anulep is again becoming madly enraged upon seeing Manek, charges him, and offhandedly slays the Brother of the Red Seal who is in his way. Realizing how dangerous the “boy” is, Isparana draws steel and wants to attack him, but she is shouldered aside by Manek. Believing himself doomed if the first attack doesn’t count, Manek swings his mallet-like fist all-out at Lord Anulep’s boy-skull.; unlike last time he has now however only 2 Passion points (Learn About Origins) aiding him. The blow connects heavily, but Lord Anulep is not knocked out, merely down. Manek follows with a brutal kick to the head which finally send the host body back to sleep – and would have killed any other man. In the aftermath of these events, when Lord Anulep is again safely (?) drugged and Prince Shahrul found, Shahruls player asks whether the reaction of Isparana to his PC’s weak and shaken state might not be indicative of her feelings. The ref consents and calls for a Average Opposed Check of Shahrul’s HT against Isparana’s Falsehood, with the Passion Revenge Upon Queen Sammu-Ramat applying. Shahrul does make it, discovers Isparana’s suppresed attraction towards him and is now able to act upon this. For this, he receives 2 Passion point (Revenge Against Queen & Regain Wealth And Power). When the sun comes up, a very beautiful youth of about sixteen years and dressed in the garb of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal is discovered seating crosslegged on a closeby fallen obelisk, calmly watching the group. It is Muawiya, holy prophet of the Sleeper Beneath the Sands. In the ensuing conversation, it becomes apparent that Muawiya knows much, maybe all, about his three visitors. When he is told about the imminent, well organized attack upon him, he is slightly surprised; he did know about the preparations, but not that they had already progressed that far. Still, he does not appear alarmed and proceeds to talk seperately with his visitors, as he knows is their wish. Isparana is first, and even though Shahrul would love to spy on the conversation by use of the Scrying Mystery, he does not dare. Manek and Shahrul are next. Muawiya knows that they have brought the spirit of a Kuthan, whom he seems to hate. He consents to question the spirit for them and then send it “to al-Tawir’s deepest hell”. He tells them that he will do so in gratitude for the warning they have brought him, and for the further aid against the attack they are going to give him against his attackers. However, he will only do so after the attack, as he is conserving his stength to beat it off. For thus drawing nearer their goals, Manek receives 3 Passion points (Learn About Origins & Make Place for Self & Hate Army of Khazistan for thwarting them with theinformation for Muawiya) and Prince Shahrul 1 Passion point (Regain Wealth And Power). This is where the session ends. As no player rolled memorably well or poorly, it is decidd to share out the Drama points for this equally, 1 point going to either character. Shahrul’s player does expend 1 Passion point to increase his Occultism skill and transmutes 1 Passion to Drama. His character’s changed stats are: TY 4, Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 3, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 2, Occultism 3, Loot 1 Regain Wealth and Power: 3 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 1 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 3 Be Indebted to No Man: 0 Drama: 2 Karma: 19 Manek’s player spends 2 Passion points to increase his Riding and Survival Skills by 1 each. His character’s changed stats are: Good Asset Giantism, Healing 3, Riding 2, Survival 2, Loot 1 Learn About His Origins: 3 Crush on Yasmeenah: 0 Make a Place for Himself in the World: 2 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 1 Drama: 1 Karma: 19 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 10 years 6 hours ago by Michael.
The topic has been locked.
The following user(s) said Thank You: IanP.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 9 years 11 months ago #823
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Episode Four, Part Two:
Death Among the Dunes At the beginning of the session, the ref, who had not rolled for Prince Shahrul’s Poor Asset Connections during the last game, exercises her prerogative to roll twice this time. The second roll comes up 11, indicating thatthe Poor Asset will cause trouble. Play commences immediately after the events of the last session, with Manek, Shahrul and Isparana having agreed to aid the nefarious Brotherhood of the Red Seal against the attack concerted by the satrap of Zul-Bazzir, Khadim Bey. Muawiya informs the trio that he wants them to infiltrate Khadim Bey’s camp in the guise of captives escaped from the Brotherhood and having information of possible strategic importance. As al-Tawir is only venerated by desert dwellers and the three are quite obviously no Khazrajs, Khadim Bey is unlikely to distrust them. In the camp, he wants them to assassinate the two sheiks allied to Khadim Bey and his Jairanian captain Ishme-Sadu. While Khadim Bey is a seasoned campaigner, he has little knowledge of desert warfare, quite unlike Ishme-Sadu. Khadim Bey trusts Ishme-Sadu’s judgement, but is too proud to listen to the other, lesser officers, or the demi-savage Khazraj sheiks. With Ishme-Sadu gone, Khadim Bey is likely to blunder, and with the two sheiks, who pledged their honour to throw their lot in with Khadim Bey, gone as well, the Khazraj tribesmen will likey not feel bound to a blundering city-dweller. Before the three set out, the prophet of al-Tawir asks for the favour of the Ancient One. A suddenly appearing acolyte leads up a captive elderly man, who is staked out naked in the sun among the ruins to perish, a sacrifice to al-Tawir. Muawiya then goes into a trance to locate Khadim Bey’s camp (i.e. he uses the Scrying Mystery) and finally reads al-Tawir’s will in the shifting patterns of the sand – that is, he uses the Prophecy Mystery and gets a propitious result, which gives the characters an Omen 1 rating to complete their undertaking. Thus blessed by the dark ancient god, Manek, Shahrul, and Isparana set out by nightfall, guided by the acolyte. They travel with little rest until the following noon, when they reach the watering whole. Here, they rest until well after midnight, when the acolyte of the Brotherhood points them into the direction of Khadim Bey’s approach and leaves, while Prince Shahrul, Manek, and Isparana head out into the desert. Around nightfall of their second day out, they are picked up by a band of Khazrajs, outriders of Khadim Bey’s force. The practiced liars Shahrul and Isparana easily pass their small company off as fugitives from the clutches of the Brotherhood and are escorted to the main force, which is just about to make camp at a tiny oasis. The force they encounter here is much larger than they expected – about a thousand warriors, one third of them Khazraj tribesmen. They are immediately brought before Khadim Bey, whose tent is just being erected. As he begins questioning them, his officers and the two sheiks join them. One of the officers, the only one present who hasn’t the look of a Jairanian mercenary, fixes Prince Shahrul with a puzzled gaze. All of a sudden, he jumps to his feet, shouting out “Seize this man! He is Prince…” Before he can finish, Shahrul, who feared being discovered by the officer and was wary, whips out his scimitar and cleaves the officer to the teeth, easily done aided by the Omen rating and the Passion Elude Padishah’s Wrath. Shahrul is immediately borne to the ground by the assault of the other fighting men present and his companions held at swordpoint, but he still receives 1 Passion point (Elude Padishah’s Wrath) for averting the danger of immediate discovery. Background Information: The slain officer had been recently transferred from Khazabad, knew of Prince Shahrul’s crime, and had seen him at several occasions in the capital. After Shahrul’s blatant act of murder, his companions are also in a tight spot, but Isparana can convince the officers that the three of them only met in captivity of the Brotherhood and don’t know each other beyond that, though doubts remain. In any case, the officers clamour for the immediate execution of the murderer. Isparana can avert this as well by cleverly giving the men the idea that Shahrul did obviously attempt to hide something, which might be important to discover, and that he should be questioned first. Upon Khadim Bey’s order, Shahrul is bound and hauled away to be interrogated. Prince Shahrul is securely tethered to a sickly little tree at the very rim of the oasis and two Jairanian mercenaries set out to gleefully torture him, at first with knives. Shahrul, who is quite bad at standing pain, makes a brave face of it and taunts his interrogators, enraging them with jeers and telling them that they will never get him to talk, not if they “set firebrands to his feet”. His ploy succeeds, and one of the soldiers heads back into the camp to get just such a firebrand. As soon as he is gone, Shahrul uses the Enslavement Mystery on the remaining soldier and commands him to loose his bonds. With his hands free, he snatches the man’s dagger, slays him, and cuts his remaining bonds. Knowing that he cannot hope to escape into the desert and that the other mercenary will raise the alarm, he quickly drags off the corpse, resumes his former position and feigns unconsciousness. When the second Jairanian returns, he stabs him to the heart and then makes off. For his escape from eventual discovery he receives 1 Passion point (Elude Padishah’s Wrath) – as well as 1 Taint and three lvl 1 wounds from the interrogation. At this stage, the players converse and decide that Manek and Isparana must avoid everything that would suggest association with Shahrul – otherwise any information they provide would be immediately disbelieved. Shahrul will attempt to carry out the murders while Manek and Isparana appear innocuous. In the meantime, Manek and Isparana are further questioned by Khadim Bey and his officers, whom they feed a lot of misinformation, like that Muawiya has a secret supply of ample water in his ruins, and that he has several dozen people with him. The conversation is cut short when news of Prince Shahrul’s disappearance arrive. Manek and Isparana are discharged. Manek is honoured – read: kept under guard – by being housed in a tent shared by two junior officers (only officers have tents), with instructions not to leave the tent. Isparana, who has passed herself off as a lady and been slyly seductive, is offered a place in Khadim Bey’s own tent. When Manek is shown into the tent, his Hallucination Asset kicks in – he recognizes one of the junior officers as the man who slew his “stepmother”. Manek’s player wants to play it cool, pointing out that the soldiers are all doomed anyhow, but the ref demands a TY Check. Manek succeeds sufficiently so as not to have to take immediate action, but not enough not to insult the officer. The other officer tries to smooth things over, the lodger having after all been sent by Khadim Bey himself, but the situation escalates and a regular bout of fisticuffs is agreed upon to teach Khadim Bey’s guest a lesson without killing him. By now, Manek has discovered his error, but it is too late to back out. The bout is fought in front of the tent, and even though the officer is an excellent fighter, Manek defeats him without greater difficulties and receives 1 Passion point (Hate Army of Khazistan). Remark: The ref confessed that she had at this stage difficulties giving Manek something interesting to do and came up with this small activity. In the meantime, Prince Shahrul has devised a rather cunning plan. He circled the oasis and waited for a Khazraj tribesman to leave the oasis to relieve himself. With more than 300 of them present, he hasn’t long to wait. He calmly walks up to him, uses the Enslavement Mystery to hold him motionless (gaining another 2 Taint in the process), opens his clothing across the chest, stabs him to the heart without spilling much blood on the clothes, drags the body off and then takes the dead man’s clothes. Dressed thus, he makes his way back into the oasis, staying away from the light of the few fires of dromedary dung and from the encampment of the Khazrajs of the slain man’s tribe. After a few successful Checks to avoid several tight spots, he finds himself near the tent of the sheik of the other tribe, who at this time is still at the talk with Manek and Isparana. He enters the empty tent, hides, and waits. At about this time, his escape from the interrogation is noticed. It does now not take long for the sheik to return to his tent. Prince Shahrul immediately uses the Enslavement Mystery on him, really going for it to ensure a success. His command to slay the other sheik is indeed successful, but his Containment roll fails completely – he acquires 6 Taint (for a current subtotal of 9 Taint!) and the Mystery does also turn against him. He is placed under a sorcerous compulsion to go and kill Ishme-Sadu, the Jairanian captain! In any case, the entire table is full of glee for the clever plan of using one sheik to kill the other and thus remove himself from the picture as well and shatter the alliance, and Prince Shahrul is awarded 1 Drama point. While Manek fights his victorious bout, two ensorcelled men walk the camp, bent on murder, one of them swathed into a tangible aura of otherworldly evil (9 Taint) before which men and beast shy away. He attracts so much attention that he doesn’t get far. He is confronted, recognized, apprehended – and taken for an evil sorcerer, for an agent of Muawiya, and a Brother of the Red Seal. As he is once again dragged before Khadim Bey, who is interrupted in his fun with a very compliant Isparana, Shahrul snaps out of the sorcerous trance. While Manek is also being summoned, yet another commotion shakes the encampment: One of the sheiks has treacherously slain the other and then fled back among his tribesmen and holed up there. The men of the slain sheik are howling for blood. Chaotic discussions and events follow. The murderous sheik leads his tribesmen away from the encampment, and the other tribesmen follow to exact their revenge. Shahrul is taken to be a Brother of the Red Seal who used a staged escape of two captives to infiltrate the camp and wreak havoc. Interrogating him is again considered, but as he escaped once, it is decided to simply execute him. As the eastern horizon is just beginning to turn grey, Prince Shahrul is led off to his death. At this junction, he spends 1 Drama for a Lucky Break and the miraculous rescue of a sudden sandstorm – with al-Tawir being also lord of sandstorms, it might well be, but is left open, that the storm was sent by him or Muawiya. As the cry “Simoom! Simoom!” distracts his executioners for a moment, Shahrul makes a dash for it, out into the desert. Even though penalized for his bound hands, he manages to stay ahead of his pursuers for a sufficient number of Opposed Timed Move Checks that they dare not follow him any further for fear of the sandstorm and return to camp. With the storm hitting him, Prince Shahrul finds himself exposed and bound in the desert. With the storm raging, Manek sees a chance for murder and slinks out into it. Blind and nearly suffocating, he manages to find his way to Ishme-Sadu’s tent. He enters the tattered canvas and falls upon the Jairanian. A hard struggle by nearly blinded men with difficult Terrain Checks follows, but Manek finally manages to knock out the seasoned warrior, not without receiving a lvl 3 wound himself. He then suffocates Ishme-Sadu and drags the corpse out into the open, to eventually be found as a victim of the simoom. Receiving 1 Passion point (Hate Army of Khazistan), he steals away. Around noon, the storm abates as quickly as it began and army picks itself back together. The victims of the storm are found to be very few, but Ishme-Sadu is discovered to be among them. Still, Khadim Bey, who believes the storm to have been sorcerous in nature, decides to press on. Manek and Isparana, feigning deathly terror of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal, plead to be allowed to remain at the oasis. Khadim Bey consents and even grants them two dromedaries to be able to leave the oasis, should anything happen, and leaves three warriors afflicted by the simoom with them. On the afternoon, the army decamps. There is no word of Shahrul not having been executed – afraid of reprisals, the soldiers tasked with it have kept their failure a secret. Prince Shahrul has spent a hellish morning in the storm, but with a lucky Survival Check has managed to survive. Burying himself in the sand of a dune, he did then keep a watch on the oasis, as he was entirely without water. Come evening, he steals down again into the oasis and stealthily rejoins his comrades, who provide him with food and water. He then returns to the desert, where he undergoes a ritual of purification to reduce his Taint (currently 8 ), as no dromedary would let him near. He does so, during the night, reducing his Taint by 3 plus 1 for another day passing, for a current total of 4. In the morning, he sneaks back into the oasis, where he and his companions steal all the sick warriors’ dromedaries and make off after the army. At this point, Manek’s player decides to spend 1 Passion point to increase his Survival to 3. In spite of the increased Survival, they go slightly astray and it takes them three instead of two days to reach the last watering hole before Muawiya’s ruins. Here, they encounter some twenty Brethren of the Red Seal with about fity dromedaries heavily laden with full water skins. They are just finishing filling in the watering hole. The cultists relay the greetings of the prophet, who has again forseen their coming. The prophet bids them take as many of the water skins as they want, wait for one day, and then come to him. Backstory: With the single day of waiting, Khadim Bey’s army is three days ahead of the group. Khadim Bey reached the ruins, but failed to find anybody – no Brothers of the Red Seal, no Muawiya. He searched the ruins for as long as he dared, but finally, with only one day of water remaining, ordered the return to the watering hole. The moment his army decamped, Muawiya had all the ghosts of the sacrifice victims of al-Tawir arise necromantically. Being incorporeal men, they did no harm to the men, but frightened off the dromedaries – all of them, laden with almost all of the water. Suddenly, Khadim Bey’s army had water for less than half a day, but was a good two days’ march from the next watering hole. They are going to arrive at this watering hole half dead from thirst – and they are going to find it vanished, filled in. The next watering hole is two days on foot away. None, including Khadim Bey, are going to make it more than half that far. The only soldiers to survive the campaign are going to be the three mercenaries abandoned in the oasis. As the trio travels to Muawiya, they meet the sorry army on the retreat. Many of the soldiers try to run to them, but they give them a wide berth on their dromedaries. Prince Shahrul and Isparana are not untouched and Manek expresses outright remorse, but still is rewarded 1 Passion point (Hate Army of Khazistan) for aiding in bringing about the soldiers’ doom. They once again meet Muawiya, who seems immensely pleased and has a decidely mad gleam in his eyes. He honours the bargain and calls up the spirit of Lord Anulep, who rages against his containment. Manek now officially learns that he has a strong strain of Kuthan blood, “sullied by animal blood”; he is a direct descendant of Lord Anulep himself and his actual sire or grandsire may have been Kuthan (!), but he is “worse than an animal and needs to be eradicated”. For this, he gains 2 Passion points (Learn About Origins & Make Place for Self). Prince Shahrul learns the simple ritual with which the sorcerous sword can be bound to a master and the command word to have it slay. As he intends to use this mighty gift to get back into his father’s good graces, he receives 2 Passion points (Regain Wealth & Elude Padishah’s Wrath). After that, Muawiya banishes Lord Anulep’s spirit to al-Tawir’s hell. What Isparana gains for her services remains a mystery. In any case the session ends wih Shahrul grabbing her by the neck and kissing her hard, followed by a passionate romp amongst the ruins and the grisly remains of the sacrificial vicims. As there was once again no especially lucky or unlucky roll, he Passion points for them are divided among Manek and Shahrul, with 1 for each. Shahrul’s player (me!) does not spend any Passion points. His character’s changed stats remain: TY 4, Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 3, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 2, Occultism 3, Loot 1 Regain Wealth and Power: 1 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 4 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 3 Be Indebted to No Man: 0 Drama: 3 Karma: 20 Manek’s player has spent 1 Passion point in-game to increase his Survival, and now spends 1 Passion point to further increase his skill at Riding. His character’s changed stats are: Good Asset Giantism, Healing 3, Riding 3, Survival 3, Loot 1 Learn About His Origins: 4 Crush on Yasmeenah: 0 Make A Place for Himself in the World: 3 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 2 Drama: 2 Karma: 21 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Michael.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 9 years 11 months ago #874
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Episode Five:
Blades of the Brotherhood At the beginning of the session, the ref Checks whether Shahrul’s Poor Connection Asset will feature in the game. The dice indicate that it won’t. The players set out from the ruins inhabitated by Muawiya and return to Zul-Bazzir. Their journey is an uneventful one, though they encounter many traces of Khadim Bey’s perished expedition force. Returning to Zu-Bazzir some 25 days after having set out, they find that news of the army’s fate has preceded them. Fright and awe of al-Tawir and the Brotherhood of the Red Seal are rempant, and the Khazraj tribes said to be restless. The characters sell some more of their loot from Lord Anulep’s tomb and spend half a dozen days recuperating from the hardships of the desert. Manek, who in he meantime has turned 19, rejoins Yasmeenah; after what he has seen and done in the desert, he finds himself now both deeply touched and repulsed by Yasmeenah’s naïve innocence. His player decides upon a slight shift in his Passion for Yasmeenah, from an outright crush on her to “See Yasmeenah to Safety”; as the two Passions are so very close to each other, the group decides that no points need to be expended for the shift. Prince Shahrul’s player seizes the opportunity to announce an even smaller shift in his character’s Passion “Regain Wealth and Power”: After what he has recently been through, Shahrul is less keen to take up the life of a courtier, even an influential one. Wealth and power, yes, but as his own man and at his own terms. He clarifies as much for the referee. Shahrul savours the heady company of Isparana and tries to fathom what exactly she is after by trailing her by use of the Scrying Mystery. One of her absence leads her to a small, nondescript tavern, where she meets with the proprietor. From their talk, it becomes quickly clear that both are in clandestine employ of “the queen”, presumably Sammu-Ramat. Isparana tells the male agent that the outing went perfectly well and reclaims some very tiny object from the proprietor. She then hands over two small strips of papyrus to be sent to Khazabad by carrier pigeons. After hesitating for a moment, she also tells her partner that she strongly suspects that Prince Shahrul is hiding in Zul-Bazzir, but cautions that she must still make sure and that it is yet too early to send word. Her second outing is a secret nightly meeting with Murad Pasha, one of Zul-Bazzir’s leading noblemen and member of the triumvirate governing the city until a new satrap to replace deceased Khadim Bey is sent from the court at Khazabad. Murad Pasha treats Isparana like an underling, but is still given instructions by her. He is told that no new satrap is coming anytime soon, and that he shall build his hold over Zul-Bazzir and prepare for a sudden surge in “the queen’s power” in about two month’s time. If he has Zul-Bazzir firmly in the queen’s camp, he can expect to be rewarded with power and honours. This is where play commences. Prince Shahrul enlists Manek’s aid to abduct the tavernkeeper-agent. Getting into the tavern unnoticed by any lodger proves to be difficult but succeeds. Manek incapacitates the tavernkeeper and Shahrul releases the (carrier-) pigeons from the roost in the yard and then searches the agent’s private quarter, but find nothing incriminating. The pair then drags of the unconcscious man into the city’s Yar-Ammonite tombs and Shahrul begins questioning him with his customary ruthlessness. Manek, fed up with all the murder and torture, steps in and a discussion ensues. After all they’ve been through, and to get Manek to aid him further, Shahrul reveals who he really is; Manek grudgingly consents to the rough interrogation. The tavernkeeper proves to be surprisingly tough but eventually folds to Shahrul’s very brutal interrogation. He admits to being an agent of Queen Sammu-Ramat and that the Queen is preparing some important move unknown to him. He also reveals the names of several adherents of the queen in Zul-Bazzir – at this time apart from Murad Pasha deliberately not specified to leave room for development as needed. He also admits that Isparana is an agent of the queen’s, sent on some important mission to gain the support of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal for the queen. Before Isparana set out to meet Muawiya, she left a small, cheap brass amulet depicting the deity Nakhramar in his safekeeping, which is somehow very important and was recently reclaimed; he denies any knowledge of the amulet’s significance. Shahrul does then silence the man forever and receives 1 Passion point (Revenge Against Queen) for the information obtained. When Manek and Shahrul return to their common lodgings, they find Isparana in conversation with two Khazraj guests – Brothers of the Red Seal, who hail the PCs and give the prophet’s greetings. By an oblique remark they make it quite clear that the prophet (and they) knows about Prince Shahrul’s identity; then they relay the prophet’s demands: The two, and half a dozen more, of their brothers are in Zul-Bazzir to abduct Ghuzman Bey, to gruesomly dismember him and then leave him dying in a very public place; as Ghuzman Bey is the most prominent of the outspoken opponents of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal, this will further strike fear and awe of al-Tawir’s power into people’s hearts. But the Brothers are all desertmen, Khazrajs who are at loss in the city. This is why they need the help of the PCs – this, and also because Ghuzman Bey is the former owner of Manek, who does therefore know his palatial villa very well. But Ghuzman Bey is more than that – he is also the owner of Yasmeenah, from whom she has fled, and the most powerful member of the ruling triumvirate of Zul-Bazzir, and well known to frequently be at odds with Murad Pasha, Queen Sammu-Ramat’s adherent. Isparana supports the Brethren, Shahrul prevaricates, and Manek flatly refuses. The Brethren tell them matter o factly that they have no choice anyhow, that it is the Ancient One’s express wish, and al-Tawir’s wish will either happen or they are doomed. It is not entirely clear whether they are expressing their faith or threatening – in any case, the ref announces that Muawiya has successfully used the Prophecy Mystery and that they are therefore afflcited by an Omen rating of 1 to bring about Ghuzman Bey’s doom. All their actions to bring it about have 1 bonus die, all their actions to prevent it are penalized. Shahrul, Manek and Isparana demand to talk this over in private, but the Khazrajs refuse and inform them that they will not be left unsupervised until Ghuzman Bey is dead. At this, Prince Shahrul’s Arrogance Poor Asset kicks in and he smashes his clay drinking jug in the speaker’s face, administering him a few vicious kicks as he lies on the ground. The other Brother stays eerily calm, and Shahrul also returns to a matter-of-factly bearing. He, Manek, and Isparana then proceed to discussing the Brethrens’ “offer” in Yar-Ammonite, which they all know. Isparana is vehemently in favour of complying with Muawiya, Prince Shahrul perceives arguments for either course of action, and Manek is violently opposed to aiding the Brethren; Ghuzman Pasha may be a danger to Yasmeenah’s freedom, but he is actually a very decent man for an aristocrat, and Muawiya and his cult are an abomination. Shahrul formulates the plan of feigning consent and then undoing the Brethren somewhere in Ghuzman Bey’s palace, thus getting rid of the threat they pose and earning Ghuzman Bey’s gratitude – which seems probable and tangible, seeing that Ghuzman Bey is an honourable man. Isparana finally consents to this course of action, but a most excellent Opposed Falsehood Check (all 7 dice coming up as successes) shows Shahrul that Isparana has no intention of not going along with Muawiya’s wishes and is certain to play Manek and Shahrul double – even though she will probably do her utmost that especially Shahrul remains unhurt. With that plan of action formulated it is decided that it will engage Manek’s See Yasmeenah to Safety Passion, as he will ask – and receive – Yasmeenah’s freedom from a grateful Ghuzman Bey. As Shahrul regards himself indebted to Manek for aiding him with the tavernkeeper, it will engage his Be Indebted to No Man Passion and his Vengeance Against Queen Passion, as keeping Ghuzman Bey save seems to go against the queen’s plans. For embarking upon this plan, Manek and Shahrul each receive 1 Passion point (See Yasmeenah to Safety & Be Indebted to No Man; Vengeance Against Queen is decided to be insufficiently engaged at this junction to warrant a point). Soon after midnight, and joined by a further two Brethren, Shahrul, Manek and Isparana set out for the palace of Guzman Bey. Manek knows a good spot to scale the garden wall and enter the gardens in a secluded spot, which they manage without an incident. With Manek’s Precognition Check failing utterly (1 mere Success on 9 dice), they are surprised by the fierce guardian lion prowling the grounds at night. Manek only just manages to throw himself out of the lion’s pounce’s way. With the lion dispatched – and Manek, who is most strongly engaged in the endeavour receiving 1 Passion point (See Yasmeenah to Safety) for this success –, they traverse the grounds to a sidedoor Manek remembers as being habitually open. As it isn’t anymore, Isparana reveals that she knows quite a bit about the picking of locks and opens it silently. Immediately after entering, the leader of the Brethren informs Isparana, Manek and Shahrul that, on the High Prophet’s orders and as guarantees of fair play: -) Yasmeenah has in the meantime been seized and brought to a secret place, where she will be killed if Ghuzman Bey isn’t successfully abducted. -) Word will go to the commander of the city watch about a certain man’s (Prince Shahrul) identity and whereabouts if Ghuzman Bey isn’t successfully abducted. -) The deal with Isparana will be called off if Ghuzman Bey isn’t successfully abducted The PCs are very much agitated; especially Shahrul only just manages to master his Arrogance Asset at being thus blackmailed. Still, the Brethren assure them that these are just precautions and that all will be well in the end. The party then enters the palace itself, and the ref informs the players that they are free to discuss basics of how the PCs should react, but not to work out details of well-concerted strategies, as their characters couldn’t do that with the Brethren all around them. The players almost immediately come to the understanding that the PCs both intend to stick with their original plan of “rescuing” Ghuzman Bey, and that both of them sense this about the other. They intend to later spend Drama to purchase an opportunity to save Yasmeenah. With Manek’s knowledge of the locale, reaching Ghuzman Bey’s private quarters isn’t difficult – but they are empty. A sojourn to the harem, where a guard has to be sorcerously frozen motionless by Prince Shahrul to be silently knocked out, shows that Ghuzman also isn’t spending the night there. While the would-be abductors are at a loss what to do, there is a slight commotion on the grounds: Ghuzman Bey is only now returning to his palace, escorted by a few attendants. The PCs and their companions hurry back to Ghuzman Bey’s sprawling quarters and reach them just in time to lie in wait for him there. There is a tight spot when slaves preceed Ghuzman Bey to lay out a simple late-night meal, and the lord of the palace enters with his elderly steward, talking about city politics. As the Brethren of the Red Seal are about to rush the two men, Manek and Shahrul treacherously attack them. As he steward is fleeing, crying for help, Ghuzman Bey, who is no coward, whips out his scimitar and also attacks the Brethren. Even hampered by the Omen rating concerning his death, he, Manek, and Shahrul make quick work of the four cultists. Both PCs receive 1 Passion point each for successfully rescuing Ghuzman Bey (Be Indebted to No Man & See Yasmeenah to Safety). Immediately after this, the ref offers 1 Drama point for a player’s acceptance of the occurrence of Isparana now killing Ghuzman Bey. She offers this first to Prince Shahrul’s player (me!) – who accepts. As Manek’s player remonstrates with him, he states that, with Isparana an the Brotherhood obviously in the know about Prince Shahrul, he feels that the secret cannot be kept any longer and that Shahrul must leave Zul-Bazzir in any case – so why not cash in some Drama on the side. So Isparana, in an unobserved moment, kills Ghuzman Bey with a masterfully cast dagger, cries out – to Shahrul, as it seems – to flee, and drops from a window down into the garden. Cursing her soundly, Manek and Shahrul follow, only moments before the guards roused by the steward burst into the quarters. With the palace coming alive behind them, the PCs race after Isparana through the garden, scale the wall, and then flee into the alleys of Zul-Bazzir. Here, they manage to lose their pursuers. At this junction, Shahrul’s player spends 12 Passion points to increase his character’s BN to 5. In the following quarrel with the PCs, Isparana justifies slaying Ghuzman Bey with having already invested too much to have her – still unspecified – deal with Muawiya be ruined. She calms Manek and Shahrul by explaining that they can pride themselves on not having folded to the Brotherhood’s blackmail and still, by her action, having averted disaster to themselves. As the PCs seem to calm down, the ref points out that, without the slain Brethren returning to their companions with an abducted Ghuzman Bey, said companions will likely not receive word about the death of Ghuzman Bey in time to stop them from denouncing Shahrul and killing Yasmeenah. As the PCs explain her oversight to Isparana, she is contrite and offers to aid them in tracking down and eliminating these companions. She suggests that they see whether their “pet ferret” Hareeb happens to know anything, while she seeks out a contact of hers, who is likely to have pertinent information. (As this contact is of course the slain tavernkeeper, there is no information to be had – but Isparana learns that somebody seems to be on to the intrigue she’s involved in.) It is agreed that this course of action will engage Maneks Passion See Yasmeenah to Safety and Shahrul’s Passions Be Indebted to No Man & Elude Padishah’s Wrath. (Even though Shahrul believes that he has to leave Zul-Bazzir, not having the authorities outright know his whereabouts is of course advantageous.) Manek and Shahrul shake down Hareeb, and the players discuss spending Drama to have Hareeb know something, which is otherwise very unlikely. Shahrul’s player states that he will not spend any, as he personally just doesn’t care enough whether they track down the Brethren in time or not, so Manek’s player grudgingly spends the Drama point. So they strike gold: Coming to see Manek and Shahrul, Hareeb has this very evening seen three Khazraj leave their quarters, carrying a large, very heavy basket, which they loaded on a dromedary. Smelling soemthing fishy and hoping to be able to be of service to Manek and Shahrul, Hareeb followed them and saw them head out of town, towards a dilapidated palm oil press in the oasis. A grateful Manek rewards Hareeb by handing him all the valuables he carries and – later – forcibly asks Shahrul to quit leaning on Hareeb. Being by now distrustful of Isparana in this entire affair, Manek and Shahrul head out of town without informing her. Shahrul merely wants to inform the Brethren of what has transpired and ask them to wait until they receive independent word of the events, but Manek is adamant about “that vermin being better off dead”. So the two manage to find the ruined oil press (for which Manek receives 1 Passion point), stealthily enter it, and fall upon the three Brethren. Unfortunately, Manek is out of the fight immediately with the Hallucination Asset kicking in, so that Shahrul has to face the two Brethren alive after the initial surprise attack all alone. He receives a lvl 3 wound, but manages to kill them both. Shahrul receives 2 Passion points (Be Indebted to No Man & Elude Padishah’s Wrath), and Manek 1 (See Yasmeenah to Safety). With the new day dawning, Zul-Bazzir becomes abuzz with the news of Ghuzman Bey’s death at the hands of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal. Fear of the Brotherhood and al-Tawir reaches hysterical levels. But there are also rumors that Manek is a member of the Botherhood – the steward saw and recognized him as one of the assailants. As the session winds down, the players decide that it is time to leave Zul-Bazzir. Prince Shahrul’s player would rather go Khazabad to use the sorcerous sword to get back in the Padishah’s good graces and then thwart Queen Sammu-Ramat, but can also see himself trading the sword to the Yar-Ammonite sorcerer Nephren Hotep. Manek’s player would much prefer the latter, but as Yasmeenah, who doesn’t speak Yar-Ammonite, would be easier installed safely in Khazabad he can also see himself going first to Khazabad and then per ship to Nephren Hotep. The players decide thatthey will simply leave Zul-Bazzir heading east and give the ref leeway whether to take them to Yar-Ammon or Khazabad. While Shahrul prepares everything for the departure, Manek hides out in the Yar-Ammonite tombs. Each player receives 1 Drama, Shahrul for the excellent Falsehood Check and Manek for the abominable Precognition one. Shahrul’s player has already spent 12 Passion points to increase BN and does now spend 1 Passion point to increase his command of Yar-Ammonite. His character’s changed stats are: BN 5, TY 4, Knockout 5, Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 3, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 3, Occultism 3, Loot 1 Regain Wealth and Power: 2 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 1 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 1 Be Indebted to No Man: 0 Drama: 1 Karma: 33 Manek’s player spends 12 Passion points to increase his Brawling Proficiency. His character’s changed stats are: Good Asset Giantism, Brawling 7 (MP 13), Healing 3, Riding 3, Survival 3, Loot 1 Learn About His Origins: 2 See Yasmeenah to Safety: 0 Carve Out Niche for Himself in the World: 1 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 0 Drama: 1 Karma: 34 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Michael.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 9 years 11 months ago #876
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Interlude
This might be the time to take a closer look at Isparana, who has become an – unusually – important NPC, and to talk about her secret motives.
Isparana
Isparana grew up wild as an orphaned tomboy guttersnipe in the backalleys of Khazabad. When her frame and her face lost her boyishness, she realized the danger of her blossoming looks and tried to hide them, but in vain – she was made a woman in some dirty lane when she was twelve. At age fourteen, she was picked up by slavers and bought by some great lord as a plaything. Three years later, Queen Sammu-Ramat noticed her – and noticed something in her. She bought her from her master, installed her with several overseers in a house in Khazabad and had her sternly trained and educated. A few years later, she began to serve as one of Queen Sammu-Ramat’s agents and was soon to become her most able and most trusted tool. Isparana is a very intense and vital person, a veritable tigress. She enjoys and savours life and everythig it has to offer, drinking the cup to its dregs and savouring the sweet with the bitter. The joys of physical love and feasting, the adrenaline rush of danger, the exultation of hardships braved and triumphs won are what keep her going. But through it all, she is loyal to her mistress. Isparana knows well that the queen is only using her, but still, Sammu-Ramat has always treated her fairly, even generously, and it was she who afforded her the opportunity to live a life that really matters. By serving the queen, Isparana can leave a mark on Xoth and wield more influence than she ever thought possible. As much as she is attracted by the sinister and suave Prince Shahrul – and she is attracted to him a lot – she is not just going to betray her mistress and relinquish her position in life for the sake of a possibly fleeting affair, no matter how passionate. She is 24 years old. Talents: Civilized; Cursed (+2 TN to resist sorcery). Brawn: 4 Daring: 5 Tenacity: 5 Sagacity: 4 Heart: 4 Cunning: 5 Reflex: 5 Aim: 5 Knockdown: 4 Knockout: 5 Move: 5 Good Assets: Connections (Queen Sammu-Ramat’s agents, available 10+ on d12); Legendary Beauty (-2 TN social interaction with men, –1 TN social interaction with women); Literacy. Poor Assets: Lithe (Knockdown –1, resist blunt trauma at BN –1). Proficiencies: Cut & Thrust 5 (MP 10), Thrown Knives 3 (AP 8 ). Skills: Climbing 3, Customs 3, Etiquette 3, Falsehood 6, Foreign Language (Jairanian) 2, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 6, Foreign Language (Zadjite) 4, Information Gathering 4, Lockpicking 3, Riding 2, Sneaking 4, Trailing 3. Isparana’s mission & Sammu-Ramat’s intrigue: Two dozen years ago, the beautiful, fifteen year old Jairanian princess Sammu-Ramat was wed as his first lawful wife to newly elevated crown prince Abdur of Khazistan, ten years her senior. Even though a few other lawful wives and dozens of concubines followed suit, Sammu-Ramat remained, by virtue of her cunning and intelligence, his prime wife, who, after three daughters, finally bore her imperial husband the much-awaited crown prince. Now, approaching forty, Queen Sammu-Ramat is still a beauty, and by a combination of her influence on her imperial husband and her own scheming and cunning the most powerful courtier in the entire sprawling imperial palace. But time has taken its toll, and the queen feels her influence on her husband slipping. What is more, it becomes ever more apparent that her son, fifteen year old crown prince Yilzit, is a very mediocre figure at best and a poorer choice for the succession than several of his equally lawful half brothers. Sammu-Ramat’s unfailing political instincts tell her that it is ineviable: Not today and not tomorrow, but in a year or three, her imperial husband is going to put Yilzit aside and name another crown prince, and that will also be the end of her own power. She is determined to neither have his son betrayed of his right nor herself divested of her influence. So Abdur II must die, and die soon, and Yilzit must become the new Padishah – with Sammu-Ramat at his elbow to guide him. But he must die in a way that does not allow the shadow of doubt of foul play, to secure her unpopular son’s smooth succession. An irrefutable, very public accident – brought about by sorcery – is to effect the Padishah’s demise. She carefully got in touch with one of the most powerful sorcerers known to her, one whom she had something to offer. So she courted Muawiya, High Prophet of al-Tawir, head of the Brotherhood of the Red Seal, and when he seemed approachable, she sent her agent, Isparana. The offer was simple: Kill Abdur II and have the worship of al-Tawir made lawful throughout Khazistan. This was the offer made by Isparana, and when Muawiya consented, all that remained was to get the one all-important thing into the prophet’s hands: A part of Abdur’s body, so that the Padishah might be cursed to death at a distance. As learned men throughout Xoth know of the power inherent in parts and secretions of the body, those important enough to possibly arouse the jealousy of sorcerers have all their bodily secretions collected diligently and burned, so as not to be used in evil sorcery. This does of course apply to the Padishah of Khazistan. Still, by means possible only to a wife, Sammu-Ramat obtained some of Abdur’s semen. This she put into a tiny, tiny container, hidden within a very commonplace and very cheap brass amulet depicting the deity Nakhramar. Isparana took this with her to Zul-Bazzir and stashed it there before setting out to meet the prophet; after all, the queen did not want this powerful token to fall into Muawiya’s hands without any return service. With Muawiya accomplice to Sammu-Ramat’s designs, Isparana returned to Zul-Bazzir and reclaimed the amulet. As had been agreed, Muawiya did send a Brother of the Red Seal to claim it and have it brough to him. And now, with the amulet and its contents in his possession, Muawiya will, at an agreed-upon time, set to work and invoke the Padishah’s doom. |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Michael.
The topic has been locked.
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The Legend of Manek & Shahrul 9 years 11 months ago #894
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Episode Six:
Fiends of the Mountains Half a dozen days pass after the murder of Ghuzman Bey. After the recent events, fear of al-Tawir reaches a fever pitch in Zul-Bazzir, and there are rumors of some people even making secret offers to appease the Ancient One. In view of this perceived threat, and with his main rival gone, Murad Pasha manages to tighten his hold over the city. During these days, Manek, who is wanted for complicity in the murder of Ghuzman Bey, hides out in the Yar-Ammonite tombs, while Prince Shahrul prepares the departure from Zul-Bazzir. He sells all the loot from Lord Anulep’s tomb save a few small, easily carried pieces and once again buys dromedaries, equipment, and provisions for the journey east. When everything is finally ready (and bot PCs’ Loot at 3), Manek sneaks out of town and meets up with Shahrul and Yasmeenah at the very fringe of the oasis. Also in their company is Isparana, who is going to return to Khazabad and will share at least the first part of the journey. For several days, the four follow the clearly marked and very well travelled caravan road between Zul-Bazzir and Khazabad. With the soft and entirely urban creature Yasmeenah a member of their parts, their pace is a somewhat leisurely one. The route, on which they avoid other travellers and keep to themselves as much as possible, leads them out of the sandy desert around Zul-Bazzir and into waste of hard-baked, cracked soil, dry gullies, and gravelly plains. On the tenth and eleventh day of their journey, they veer around the Dragonback Mountains. Backstory: The extremely craggy and steep, though rather low Dragonback Mountains lie about halfway between Zul-Bazzir and Khazabad and due north from the Yar-Ammonite town of Khadis. Until about half a century ago, the caravan route lead through a gorge cutting rather directly through the otherwise untraversable Dragonback Mountains, but then, all of a sudden, the gorge became haunted. It is today known as Demon’s Gorge, and nobody travels it anymore. Instead, the caravan road goes around the Dragonback Mountains, adding another day of travel time to the journey from Zul-Bazzir to Khazabad. This much is known to the PCs and players, and also that this is where a path branches off towards Khadis in Yar-Ammon, and where they will have to decide for good where to turn to. What neither players nor PCs know, but what will become important, is that Demon’s Gorge is haunted by the restless shade of Semerkhet, the slain brother of the Yar-Ammonite sorcerer Nephren Hotep. Almost fifty years ago, Semerkhet and Nephren Hotep, born to the upper class of the Yar-Ammonites of Zul-Bazzir, were fledgling necromancers in their twenties. Some of their unwholesome expermients forced them to flee the outraged people of of Zul-Bazzir and leave their home town. Leaving behind all their possessions on their hasty flight, they managed to join a caravan going east, intending to finally branch off south into Yar-Ammon. One night, as they were encamped in the Dragonback Mountains, Semerkhet, who was the elder, more knowledgable, and more talented of the sorcerous brothers, discovered that Nephren Hotep had obviously managed to rescue one their sorcerous Kuthan treasures and had taken it along on the flight, keeping this secret from his elder sibling. Semerkhet angrily confronted Nephren Hotep, there was a struggle, and Nephren Hotep knived his brother. He then travelled on into Yar-Ammon, to eventually become this country’s most powerful sorcerer – while his slain brother became a restless shade disrupting travel through the Dragonback Mountains. On the evening of the eleventh day, the four travellers camp on the eastern foot of the Dragonback Mountains; tomorrow morning, Manekand Shahrul will have to decide whether to go on to Khazabad or to journey south to Khadis. This is where play commences. As the eastern sky is turning grey on the following morning, they are awakend by the sounds of gallopping hooves on the hard ground. It is a Khazistani soldier, gallopping up at them sharply from an encampment they had seen struck on the previous evening, about three miles distant. He ejaculates that they have a case of poisoning and whether any present know something of the healing arts. They really don’t, but decide to investigate anyway what fate had brought their way. The encampment is one of about thirty people, apart from a servant or two all soldiers. On their hasty way there, the companions learn that it is the encampment of Akurgal Hissar, newly appointed satrap of Zul-Bazzir, who is with his personal guard travelling ahead of the slower main body of soldiers reinforcing the garrison at Zul-Bazzir. Prince Shahrul knows that Akurgal Hissar is a stern, seasoned, and highly capable military man and administrator, one of the most important aides of his imperial father. Rescuing such an important man – for it is Akurgal Hissar who was discovered to be incapacitated with what can only be poison – and having him speak up for him might well be enough to reconcile him with the Padishah. As they enter Akurgal Hissar’s small encampment, Prince Shahruhl, aided by 2 Passion points, succeeds excellently at a Falsehood Check and realizes that Isparana and one of Akurgal Hissar’s soldiers seem to recognize each other, but are both trying to hide this. Taking a look at the incapacitated newly appointed satrap, they see that he shows all symptoms of poisoning and was, for the time, probably only saved by having thrown up. An Apothecary Check, using SY aided by a Passion instead, yields at least the information that knowledge of what poison was used would be vital for the treatment. Suspecting Iparana’s acquaintance, Shahrul talks as privately as possible to the commanding officer. He accuses Isparana’s acquaintance, which the officer of course refuses to believe. Shahrul, who is listened to as a man of obvious breeding, means, and education, then suggests at least searching the soldier for poison. As the officer considers this, the accused soldiers jumps on a horse and gallops off. Backstory: Akurgal Hissar is not only an important confidant of Padishah Abdur II, but also among those influential noblemen who are beginning to doubt the suitability of crown prince Yilzit as a successor to the throne. He is, in short, one of the very last persons Queen Sammu-Ramat wants to see in control of the important city Zul-Bazzir when she makes her move. Being wary of Akurgal Hissar for quite some time now, she has inserted one of her agents, a certain Kerem, into his personal guard. It was indeed Kerem who poisoned Akurgal Hissar, and it was Kerem who was recognized by Isparana and recognized her in turn, as noted by Prince Shahrul. Catching part of Shahrul’s conversation with the commanding officer, Isparana made a secret handsign for Kerem to flee, in part out of concern for her fellow agent, but mostly to prevent Queen Sammu-Ramat’s involvement from being found out. Better for Kerem to be killed on a failed flight then to be apprehended and questioned. To cut a long story short: Kerem flees to the only place where he can hope to lose pursuit, into Demon’s Gorge, where even the hand-picked soldiers of Akurgal Hissar’s guard dare not follow. But the PCs dare – or at least Prince Shahrul wants to. Gritting his teeth at being reduced to plead for assistance, he asks for aid, promising Manek rich rewards and possibly even high honours from the Padishah himself for saving Akurgal Hissar. Leaving Yasmeenah in safety with the guardsmen, he finally consents to accompany Shahrul – and so does Isparana (of course intending to keep Kerem from being brought back alive). It is agreed that tracking down Kerem will engage Shahrul’s Passions Regain Wealth and Power and Elude Padishah’s Wrath and, to a lesser degree, Vengeance against Sammu-Ramat, and Manek’s Passion Carve Out Niche for Himself. At this junction, Manek’s player announces that, while Manek is still very much interested in installing Yasmeenah in some safe place, he doesn’t want this as a Passion anymore. With this Passion currently at 0 anyhow, he spends 1 Passion point from his Learn About Origins and changes the Passion into Friendship with Prince Shahrul. The ref says that this is somewhat lame, a cheap Passion that will automatically kick in when Manek aids Shahrul, but Manek’s player argues that he hasn’t chosen this Passion frivolously, that he finds this reasonable after all Manek has shared with Shahrul, and that he also feels the need for something to glue the PCs more firmly together. Prince Shahrul’s player announces that while Shahrul feels some camraderie towards Manek he doesn’t really consider him a friend – Shahrul’s not the type to have friends –, but he does not regard the Passion implausible. With two out of three in the playing group in favour of the change, the ref has to accept it – and it is decided that the new Passion Friendship for Prince Shahrul is also engaged in tracking down Kerem. Thus, while Akurgal Hissar’s men set a close watch over the mouth of Demon’s Gorge, Manek, Shahrul, and Isparana enter, accompanied by one death-defyingly brave volunteer guardsman. They are only a couple hundred meters in when Shahrul is surprisingly fired at with a composite bow by Kerem, who has hidden up ahead, at Extreme Range. He cannot defend and gets an arrow right under the ribs, where he is however armoured, taking only a lvl 1 wound. Still, everybody dives for cover as Kerem shouts at them that he is going to shoot anybody coming up on him. Prince Shahrul, who is the only one with a long-range missile weapon himself, retreats a bit and then precariously climbs the wall of the gorge, where he moves forward until he can look down from above on Kerem’s hiding place. He loses an arrow and achieves an excellent hit (4 Successes out of 9 at Extreme Range, with 4 dice set aside to buy +/– 1 on table 4.7), which, because of armour, comes up as a lvl 2 wound to the hip. Outmaneuvered and wounded, Kerem limps to his hidden dromedary, avoiding another arrow of Shahrul’s, and flees deeper into the gorge. Shahrul fires yet another excellent shot, this time at the dromedary, and inflicts a lvl 3 wound to the beast’s torso. Confident that the quarry cannot escape on an injured dromedary, he calls down to his companions to halt their pursuit until he rejoins them. For the double achievement of dislodging Kerem and seriously hampering his further flight the ref awards 1 Passion point (Regain Wealth and Power). As they make to follow Kerem, it is discovered that Manek’s dromedary has injured itself on some jagged rock or other sharp item and suffered a deep cut to one leg and is now lame. Shahrul, who does silently – and correctly – suspect Isparana of tempering, asks for an Opposed Falshood Check, which comes up inconclusive. With Shahrul’s suspicions remaining, they loose some time by getting a fresh dromedary from Akurgal Hissar’s guardsmen before resuming the pursuit. At this junction, Shahrul’s player decides that this is the time for a change in his character’s relation to Isparana. He spends a Drama point for a Scene Request and requested a scene where Shahrul had the opportunity to, at great risk or danger to himself, save Isparana from a very dire fate, or a scene with some other kind of opportunity to have Isparana’s feelings for Shahrul overpower her loyalty to Queen Sammu-Ramat. The characters then head down Demon’s Gorge, where the blood from their wounded quarry has left a distinct trail. They travel at a fast trot for the better part of an hour, passing a number of old, bleached skeletons of men and draft animals. Finally they come upon the dead dromedary – which has not succumbed to Shahrul’s arrow, but is found to have been literally slaughtered by a great number of cruel blows of most obviously superhuman strength. Most gruelingly, the dromedary, though mangled, has hardly bled from its many deep wounds. Of Kerem, its rider, there is no trace. “Death is approaching,” Manek warns the others (5 Successes on his Precognition Check). As they ready themselves, a violent wind springs up around them, and coalesces into an almost three meters tall, vaguely man-shaped form made up of gravel, sand, some bones, and small, dry twigs, and splotched by blood. The thing launches itself upon the volunteer guardsman and his dromedary and shreds both to pieces. Considering discretion the better part of valour when up against the supernatural, Manek, Shahrul, and Isparana use these moments to whip their already bolting and panicked dromedaries to even greater haste and speed past the apparition, further down the Demon’s Gorge, where Kerem supposedly has fled, too. Invoking the authority granted her by Shahrul’s player in spending the Drama point, the ref decrees that Isparana is hindmost and Manek in the lead. The enraged demon (i.e. Semerkhet’s shade using whatever matter is available to cloth itself in a physical form) doesn’t linger over the mangled guardsman, but races howling after the three fugitives. Half running and half flying, it is far fleeter than any terrified dromedary. Shahrul’s player asks whether Shahrul knows anything worthwhile about such a creature, and the ref decrees that this would be a Legendary Occultism feat; aided by 3 PA points, Shahruhl actually achieves the necessary 5 Successes with his Occultism 3 and learns that the creature is the manifestation of a restless ghost that is susceptible to normal physical damage and can be – temporarily – destroyed by it. He also happens to know a sorcerous word that will slightly disrupt the manifestations physical coherence, though only once (Check Power TN 7, every Success yields 1 die penalty for ghost). And then Semerkhet’s monstrous shade tackles Isparana’s dromedary and bears both to the ground. Once again invoking the Drama point spent, the ref decrees that Manek does not notice that immediately, and once he does he will have slight problems getting from his dromedary – Shahrul is the only one able to act immediately. With that, the ref declares the Scene Request as being fulfilled. Shahrul has an opportunity to win Isparana’s heart by a display of death-defying valour for her sake. Prince Shahrul jumps from his dromedary, only to see the undead beast shred Isparana’s dromedary to pieces – and Isparana trapped underneath the fallen animal. Shahrul commands – for the first time – Lord Anulep’s sorcerous sword to slay the creature, invokes the sorcerous word and launches himself at Semerkhet’s shade. Attacking like a madman, and aided by the sorcerous sword, Shahrul actually manages to cut down the apparition with a lucky first charge. The ref narrates how the cleft creature begins to slide apart, but still grabs Shahrul and rends him, only to completely loose coherency and slide into a mound of debris just as it does so. For saving Isparana from certain death, Shahrul is rewarded 1 Passion point (Vengeance against Queen). A visibly shaken and bruised Isparana is rescued from underneath the dead dromedary. As Shahrul knows that the shade will be able to manifest itself again very soon, the three make plans how to meet it. It does indeed not take long for the gravel and debris in the vicinity to slide together and for the creature to arise again within swirling gusts of hot wind – but this time even taller than before. As the three despair, the apparition addresses them in howls of barely intelligible Yar-Ammonite: “Kuthan sorcery! Kuthan sorcery! Are you the thrice accursed Nephren Hotep?” In the ensuing conversation with the undead necromancer they learn its identity and the story of the flight from Zul-Bazzir and its murder by the hands of its brother. As the thing’s off-hand remarks show that it was inhuman even when still human, they feel no compassion for it. Instead, they pretend to be mortal enemies of Nephren Hotep themselves and pursuing one of his agents. The undead Semerkhet may be powerful, but he is also insane and full of hatred and thus easily fooled. It is however not easy to steer Semerkhet away from his mad mouthing over his brother, but they finally learn that before them, no human being has come into Semerkhet’s portion of Demon’s Gorge for years. Kerem obviously hasn’t been here. For learning more about Nephen Hotep, Xoth’s leading scholar on Elder Kuth, Manek is awarded 1 Passion point (Learn about Origins). It is also Manek who deduces it first: Kerem must have sent his dromedary on ahead alone and hidden somewhere in the gorge, where his pursuers passed him by; he has to be somewhere behind them. Having them swear many soul-chillingly grisly promises to kill Nephren Hotep, Semerkhet finally lets them go. Once they pass Kerem’s dead dromedary, they leave their own dromedaries and make their way from cover to cover further back through the gorge, looking for possible hideaways. They locate a likely cleft and trick Kerem, who is indeed hiding in it. Shahrul and Isparana, suitably disshevelled, flee in feigned terror past the cleft back towards the mouth of the gorge, while Manek lies in waiting. As Kerem still does not emerge from the cleft, Manek decides to storm it and incapacitates the skilled warrior after only a short struggle. For thus advancing Prince Shahrul’s goals he is awarded 1 Passion point (Friendship with Shahrul). A search of Kerem quickly turns up poison, and even something that might well be an anidote. A prelminary questioning of the revived prisoner yields nothing, and they decide not yet to use torture, but to leave this to the guardsmen. As they haul Kerem back, Shahrul makes his move on a very obviously anxious Isparana. He bluntly reveals who he is (knowing that he does know this anyhow) and also that he knows that she is in the service of Queen Sammu-Ramat in some gambit for more power, and that Kerem is as well. He tells her that Akurgal Hissar will be saved and learn the truth, and that he will inform the Padishah, who will believe his trusted servant, and that the game is up. He also tells her that he is going back to Khazabad to reclaim his rightful place and asks her to be no fool and to desert the queen; Isparana is dear to him and should throw in her lot with him. Still moved by him risking his life for her, Isparana does what the Drama point has been paid for: She breaks down and confesses the entire plan to Shahrul. For obtaining this information, Shahrul is awarded 3 Passion points (Regain Power & Elude Wrath & Vengeance against Queen), and Manek, whom Shahrul now ropes into the plan to blow the queen’s plot open wide and thus (re-)gain high honours with the Padishah, is awarded 1 Passion point (Carve Out Niche). They rejoin Akurgal Hissar’s camp and administer the antidote. In two days of rest, during which Yasmeenah tends to him, Akurgal Hissar regains consciousness and part of his health. Shahrul reveals himself to him and tells him – slightly doctored – about the plot against the Padishah, and how Murad Pasha is sure to make trouble for Akurgal Hissar in Zul-Bazzir. Akurgal Hissar oversees a cruel interrogation of the captured Kerem, which corroborates some of the information. To lull Queen Sammu-Ramat in false safety, he immediately sends a messenger to the court with news of his own death. The next day, as Akurgal Hissar is just fit enough to travel, the main force of his troops comes up. The satrap writes a detailed letter to the Padishah and asks Prince Shahrul – as he is now once again styled openly – to deliver the letter. He also lends him an escort of ten of his personal guardsmen, who will aid in making sure the important prisoner Kerem makes it safely to Khazabad. He then departs for Zul-Bazzir, determined to thwart Murad Pasha and take control of it. With him goes Yasmeenah. Akurgal Hissar took a great liking to her, and, assuming her Prince Shahrul’s slave, asked to buy her for himself. When matters were explained, Yasmeenah was actually happy to go with Akurgal Hissar and become one of his concubines – in her native city, no less. The session ends with the PCs, Isparana, ten guardsmen and the prisoner setting out for Khazabad – and with the ref apologizing for having left Manek out of the action; the session went slightly differently then even her very loose planning anticipated, and she had found no opportunity to insert his angles. As a small compensation she awards him the Drama point for the worst roll of the session (there actually was none); the point for the best roll goes to Shahrul (a tie between his Falsehood and Occultism Checks). Shahrul’s player thinks that travelling back to court might be the time to bolster Shahrul’s duplicity and thus spends 2 Passion points to increase his Falsehood Skill. His character’s changed stats are: BN 5, TY 4, Knockout 5, Scrying 3 (SP 8 ), Falsehood 4, Foreign Language (Yar-Ammonite) 3, Occultism 3, Loot 3 Regain Wealth and Power: 3 Elude Padishah’s Wrath: 0 Vengeance against Queen Sammu-Ramat: 2 Be Indebted to No Man: 0 Drama: 2 Karma: 36 Manek’s player does not expend any Passion points. His character’s changed stats remain: Good Asset Giantism, Brawling 7 (MP 13), Healing 3, Riding 3, Survival 3, Loot 3 Learn About His Origins: 2 Friendship with Prince Shahrul: 1 Make A Place for Himself in the World: 2 Hate for Army of Khazistan: 0 Drama: 2 Karma: 35 |
Bow down: I am the emperor of dreams;
I crown me with the million-colored sun Of secret worlds incredible, and take Their trailing skies for vestment when I soar. Clark Ashton Smith, The Hashish Eater or The Apocalypse of Evil
Last Edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Michael.
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