Were I running this at the table, I'd almost certainly go with an attack against the Sun-Spears. We've just had 2-3 scenes that very heavily featured Vahid, and I'd want to use the miss as an opportunity to move the spotlight back to the PCs "on the ground." You've already seeded the idea of the Stormcrows, and this is a great little bit of payoff.
Plus, it gives us a chance to further explore the relationships that have been developing. If Kirs gets himself in trouble, will Annwen go to help him? What if Pad is in trouble at the same time? How will Pad deal with Maikl accusing them of working for the sorcerer and kidnapping Katrin, as Stormcrows attack?
And meanwhile, you can cut back and forth between that action and Vahid/Katrin struggling to bring the storm-spirit to heel.
Very good point re: the spotlighting. I've gotten perhaps a bit complacent with balancing out the ensemble -- if this were at the table, Anwen and Padrig might be a bit bored by now!
I voted for the Stormcrows, as it feels too powerful to me to have the hdour just reach out across the world and pluck Katrin from Vahid. Additionally, I agree with Jeremy S: shift the PC focus.
For similar reasons to Jeremy in terms of spotlight management, I'd vote for "Take a prisoner".
Make the hardest version of that move, kidnap Vahid and Katrin both, then hard cut to the next morning when Maikl wakes Annwen and Padrig up demanding to know where Vahid is. Let them talk him down (or not) and go out on a rescue mission for the missing magicians, interspersed with some face-to-face Vahid interaction with Cirl.
That's a great solution to the spotlight problem as well! Some 1-1 interaction between Cirl and Vahid could be really exciting -- it's the kind of improv that would make me really anxious as a GM at the gaming table, so it'd be a blast to get a crack at it in this format.
Fuck! Hmm. I think we should combine one of the first two and the last one. It's a lot for just one miss, but it's overdue as you said. At the table, I'd be receptive to the argument that this counter move was coming, and the 5 just gave us the "when" not the "what" (also notice how I write this from the perspective of a player, not a forever gm). Anyway, an attack where the proverbial gates are opened by a corrupted guardian, or our magical buddies getting snatched, and that incensing the guardian to take action. 🤔
I agree that the third one can be combined in interesting ways with the other two -- certainly Maikl will be ready to believe the worst about Vahid, whatever the situation is. I would argue, though, it'd be a long walk for him to ally with the hdour's fellow travelers and 'open the gates' for them, given what we've established so far. Maikl is anti-Vahid, not pro-Cirl, after all.
Maybe if we had established that Cirl was already in league with The Things Below and had some mechanism of mind control or ability to induce paranoia.
Alternately, we could've planted some seeds that the bodyguard was bad from the beginning -- and that maybe he was responsible for the death of the previous spirit-talker, Louen. Arguably that could be inferred from the text, but it's a reach.
Of those two, I like an attack + the guardian being turned. That's a huge move, and will really test the party on all fronts. That said, the guardian going berserk when it's clear homegirl gets took - that's really plausible.
I considered a move against Stonetop, but I decided against it for two reasons. First, it would've be as dynamic or immediate as a move against the community we're currently in -- it would have to take the form of a messenger reporting that Stonetop had been attacked. Second, from Cirl's standpoint, it's not clear to me how that advances his goals at this moment, unless he thinks he can actually take and hold the storm hill. What do you think?
I think if he knows what's under it, or that there's something storm related and powerful under it (his spirit could tell him) it might be worth making the nearly defenseless town, still recovering from his last attack, the seat of his power 🤷🏿♂️
Oh interesting! I don't think of Stonetop as defenseless. It has a militia of 100 people -- that's a huge force in this locality. Marshedge's town guard is only 25 professional soldiers (probably more like 40 now that Brennan is getting up to no good).
Stonetop's soldiers are poorly armed and only lightly drilled, which makes them quite poor as an offensive force, but if they're fighting for their lives and homes, they could likely fight off a force of 20-25 Hillfolk riders. Cirl could probably execute a lightning raid with very few losses, but trying to take and hold the town center while he mucked about with the arcanum would be dicey at best, and he'd be risking all his people to do it.
Like, if this is a mystical way to level up some or all his stormcrows? Amplify and project his own power? Find a few more artifacts? I think the answer to all 3 is "yes" and also its pretty defencable. If he does it, then where do the heroes go for help? The only place they can. Ol' Brennan.
"Fly my pretties, fly!"
Just because.
Were I running this at the table, I'd almost certainly go with an attack against the Sun-Spears. We've just had 2-3 scenes that very heavily featured Vahid, and I'd want to use the miss as an opportunity to move the spotlight back to the PCs "on the ground." You've already seeded the idea of the Stormcrows, and this is a great little bit of payoff.
Plus, it gives us a chance to further explore the relationships that have been developing. If Kirs gets himself in trouble, will Annwen go to help him? What if Pad is in trouble at the same time? How will Pad deal with Maikl accusing them of working for the sorcerer and kidnapping Katrin, as Stormcrows attack?
And meanwhile, you can cut back and forth between that action and Vahid/Katrin struggling to bring the storm-spirit to heel.
Very good point re: the spotlighting. I've gotten perhaps a bit complacent with balancing out the ensemble -- if this were at the table, Anwen and Padrig might be a bit bored by now!
I voted for the Stormcrows, as it feels too powerful to me to have the hdour just reach out across the world and pluck Katrin from Vahid. Additionally, I agree with Jeremy S: shift the PC focus.
For similar reasons to Jeremy in terms of spotlight management, I'd vote for "Take a prisoner".
Make the hardest version of that move, kidnap Vahid and Katrin both, then hard cut to the next morning when Maikl wakes Annwen and Padrig up demanding to know where Vahid is. Let them talk him down (or not) and go out on a rescue mission for the missing magicians, interspersed with some face-to-face Vahid interaction with Cirl.
That's a great solution to the spotlight problem as well! Some 1-1 interaction between Cirl and Vahid could be really exciting -- it's the kind of improv that would make me really anxious as a GM at the gaming table, so it'd be a blast to get a crack at it in this format.
Fuck! Hmm. I think we should combine one of the first two and the last one. It's a lot for just one miss, but it's overdue as you said. At the table, I'd be receptive to the argument that this counter move was coming, and the 5 just gave us the "when" not the "what" (also notice how I write this from the perspective of a player, not a forever gm). Anyway, an attack where the proverbial gates are opened by a corrupted guardian, or our magical buddies getting snatched, and that incensing the guardian to take action. 🤔
I agree that the third one can be combined in interesting ways with the other two -- certainly Maikl will be ready to believe the worst about Vahid, whatever the situation is. I would argue, though, it'd be a long walk for him to ally with the hdour's fellow travelers and 'open the gates' for them, given what we've established so far. Maikl is anti-Vahid, not pro-Cirl, after all.
Fair, but what about corruption?
Maybe if we had established that Cirl was already in league with The Things Below and had some mechanism of mind control or ability to induce paranoia.
Alternately, we could've planted some seeds that the bodyguard was bad from the beginning -- and that maybe he was responsible for the death of the previous spirit-talker, Louen. Arguably that could be inferred from the text, but it's a reach.
It's a reach, fair.
Of those two, I like an attack + the guardian being turned. That's a huge move, and will really test the party on all fronts. That said, the guardian going berserk when it's clear homegirl gets took - that's really plausible.
YUP. I think if Katrin were to get taken, that would probably threaten to fill up the countdown clock almost immediately.
Or what about a move against stonetop 🤔 let's see anwen stay in bed with stealth drogo _then_.
I considered a move against Stonetop, but I decided against it for two reasons. First, it would've be as dynamic or immediate as a move against the community we're currently in -- it would have to take the form of a messenger reporting that Stonetop had been attacked. Second, from Cirl's standpoint, it's not clear to me how that advances his goals at this moment, unless he thinks he can actually take and hold the storm hill. What do you think?
I think if he knows what's under it, or that there's something storm related and powerful under it (his spirit could tell him) it might be worth making the nearly defenseless town, still recovering from his last attack, the seat of his power 🤷🏿♂️
Oh interesting! I don't think of Stonetop as defenseless. It has a militia of 100 people -- that's a huge force in this locality. Marshedge's town guard is only 25 professional soldiers (probably more like 40 now that Brennan is getting up to no good).
Stonetop's soldiers are poorly armed and only lightly drilled, which makes them quite poor as an offensive force, but if they're fighting for their lives and homes, they could likely fight off a force of 20-25 Hillfolk riders. Cirl could probably execute a lightning raid with very few losses, but trying to take and hold the town center while he mucked about with the arcanum would be dicey at best, and he'd be risking all his people to do it.
Like, if this is a mystical way to level up some or all his stormcrows? Amplify and project his own power? Find a few more artifacts? I think the answer to all 3 is "yes" and also its pretty defencable. If he does it, then where do the heroes go for help? The only place they can. Ol' Brennan.