Session 1.4: Whispers in the Dark

Vahid toils below while the crew keeps watch. The crinwin make themselves heard.

Pre-Session Notes

First, some housekeeping. We’re back to footnotes for most mechanical details right now. I’ve heard strong opinions on both sides, but overall footnotes seems to have stronger proponents. I’ll keep looking for a better solution.

Also, you may notice that the name of the newsletter has changed — we are now PTFO (short for Play To Find Out). At some point we may move on to another game system and setting, so PTFO is the container for whatever else happens here. The URL will also change, which will break all the links in the old emails, so apologies in advance.

When last we met, Vahid had set himself to studying the Green Lords’ glyphs and sculpture in order to discover the workings of the root-woven arch. He’s using his Cryptologist move here. To refresh our memories, here’s the text of the move:

Source: Jeremy Strandberg // Stonetop

If Vahid misses, he won’t get anywhere, and it’ll take him a long time, meaning that the group above is left guarding the camp at night, exposed to crinwin attack.

In this case, the 7-9 and the 10+ outcomes are pretty similar — for a 10+ we can give Vahid some extra benefit by making the other characters very impressed by his genius, which could win him some respect with Padrig’s bandit crew.

So, without further ado, we’ll have Vahid roll. He’s rolling +INT, which is a +2.

Looks like today is a no bones day for Vahid; should’ve stayed in bed. Four on the dice plus two from his intelligence is a six, which gives us a Miss. This means Vahid not only fails to decode the arcane marks, but also puts himself and the party in danger. We’ll start the session not with Vahid, but in the clearing above, to realize that danger.

Since Anwen, Padrig and the Companions are cooling their heels for the night, we’ll use the Keep Company move here to set the scene a bit:

Source: Jeremy Strandberg // Stonetop

Padrig asks Anwen: Who or what seems to be on your mind?

This is a good opportunity to establish elements for future storylines. We know that Anwen has yet to be initiated as an adult in the Stonetop community, but we haven’t fleshed out Stonetop’s initiation rituals. Anwen can define them here. At the gaming table, my preference would be to let Anwen’s player decide what Stonetop’s initiation rituals are like, since her character is the one who is going to go through them. Rather than having a universal initiation trial, we’ll establish that young people in Stonetop seek out elders (usually their parents) to ‘challenge’ them to prove their worth to the community. Often this takes the shape of proving mastery of some sort of trade or skill.

Anwen asks Padrig: What new thing do you reveal about yourself?

Building on Anwen’s answer, Padrig reveals a bit about his own initiation, and the circumstances under which he left Stonetop.

Finally, the Companions ask Anwen: What do you do that’s annoying/endearing?

This is a nice opportunity to build Anwen up a bit. We can say that the Companions are impressed with Anwen’s resolve — she came back from the ruins with a bloody axe and some battle-scars. They find her quiet toughness endearing. Of course, Anwen is quiet because she’s worried about Blodwen, but they don’t know that, they just assume she’s a badass.

We’ll incorporate these answers into the next scene.

Session 1 // Scene 7: A Ruin in the Woods

The sun sets while Vahid toils below. In the clearing above, the bonfire crackles, throwing flickering firelight to the edge of the ravine, and up to the canopy of the spreading oak tree. Anwen sits cross-legged, near the fire. Her face is still smudged with blood, but her wounds have been cleaned and bandaged¹. Shadow curls next to her, panting softly. She can hear the Companions in the hunting blinds above, talking in quiet tones.

“The village girl’s got some sand to her, no? Went down into the dark, brave as you please. Not a peep when I put the rotgut on her cuts. Maybe the chief’s thinking she’ll come with us when we go?” One voice whispers. A hushed reply: “Hope so. She’s a sight more pleasant than Aled around the fire, that’s for certain.”

Aled’s reply comes loudly from another blind: “Maybe you’ll find me more pleasant to look at if I pluck out one of your weepy little eyes, Hartig!”

Ozbeg breaks in from his hiding place, hissing “Quiet, you dogs! Is this an ambush or a winesink?”

Padrig, pacing near the edge of the firelight, smiles. “They’re right, you know,” he says to Anwen. “You did well down there. Facing crinwin in the dark, when they’re stirred up like that — even seasoned fighters would hesitate. ” Anwen nods in thanks but doesn’t reply. He tries another angle, seeking to pull Anwen’s thoughts from Blodwen’s fate. “If you can bring that same fire to your initiation, you’ll be the talk of the village.”

Anwen smiles sadly. “I’m glad to hear that. But I’m not sure who will gift me my challenge when the time comes. I always thought it would be Cerys, she said she wouldn’t be able to stand for me until I put things right with Owain. And you know how that’s going.”

Padrig chuckles. “That’s a challenge all on its own. What about Garet? He thinks well of you.”

Anwen sighs. “He’s already done so much for me, and he is the town’s Judge. People could say he favored me too much, they might even say the Lawkeeper won’t bless his judgments anymore. It wouldn’t be right of me to ask him.”

Padrig pauses and the two listen to the crackling fire for a bit. He pipes up. “In my day, you could always challenge one of the militia in the warrior’s circle. Earn your initiation in combat. You’re skilled enough to challenge one of them, I have no doubt.”

Anwen shakes her head. “Since Owain became the leader of the militia, he chooses who the challengers face. He’d choose one of the best. Royce, or Tall Talfryn. Maybe even fight me himself.” Before he can press her further, she continues. “Who gave you your challenge?”

Padrig looks distantly into the fire. “My father. The village was all gathered there — The priest of Tor asked who would give me a task so that I could prove myself a man grown. My father challenged me to find a wolf who had been taking lambs that spring. He worded the challenge in a mealy-mouthed way, so that I could go with him and the other hunters to do it. But when I accepted, I pledged to the priest of Tor that I’d do it alone. He knew what I was about, and accepted my pledge on Tor’s behalf. I could tell my father was angry. And afraid for me.”

Anwen brightens up a bit. “And you did it?”

“I did. My father had taught me well. Better than he realized, I think. I tracked it to its lair out in the Flats, not too far from the village. It was alone. That happens to wolves sometimes; they stray away from their pack, searching for a patch of their own, or they’re driven off because they are a nuisance to the others. It was dangerous, but I didn’t feel afraid. I lured it out with a fresh-killed rabbit, and I waited upwind. Put two arrows into it before it closed, but I had to finish it with my knife. I brought it back over my shoulder, and I felt like a hero.”

Anwen smiles. “Well, you were, weren’t you? The wolf was dangerous. It could’ve hurt someone.”

“Maybe I was. My father said I was a fool to take that kind of risk, and that I should never do it again,” he says.

“But didn’t you? You went out on your own, out to Gordin’s Delve! Joined the Companions!”

Padrig nods. “I did, yes. I left Stonetop the next morning.”

The fire crackles and pops. Hartig comes down to add a few armfuls of leaves and deadfall to keep it burning high. As he climbs back up the oak, a raspy whisper comes from beyond the firelight. “Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Eeeeeeeeeyes!”

Hartig nearly falls off the tree in alarm, scrambling up to his perch in the blinds. Anwen starts to her feet, pulling her hatchet from her belt. Padrig withdraws to the bonfire, drawing his sword from its scabbard. He bellows: “Eyes up, war-dogs! The crinwin are here!”²

He snatches up brands from the bonfire, hurling them towards the canyon’s walls, casting the firelight farther, and searching the edges of the light for movement. In the narrow entrance to the canyon, he sees crinwin — a half-dozen of them, maybe more — squeezing through. And at the top of the ridge, he sees another handful, quietly, carefully crawling down the thorny canyon wall, towards the oak’s spreading branches.

“Ozbeg!” He bellows. “Two groups! The ravine and at the northeast ridgeline! They’re trying to get the drop on you!”

Ozbeg bellows in return. “You heard the chief, boys! Do you want to die out here, where the gods will never find us? Draw and hold till you see them in the firelight!”

Padrig stands by Anwen. “We’ll hold by the bonfire. Any that make it past the arrows are ours. Are you with me?”

Anwen nods. She lifts her shield and holds up her axe, knuckles white around the haft. Shadow growls and paws the mud at her heels. The crinwin surge into the circle of the bonfire’s light, and the Companions let fly.³ The volley strikes true — three crinwin stop cold as arrows thud into them, and a fourth is wounded, fleeing back into the shadow, circling the bonfire.⁴

Undeterred, a surviving crinwin charges Anwen, howling. She meets it with the edge of her shield slamming into its chest, stopping it dead, before cleaving its skull with her hatchet.⁵ Padrig shouts “Well struck, all!” as another crinwin falls to his sword⁶. He whirls, looking for the wounded crinwin but it surprises him, charging at his flank from the shadows. It is upon him before he can react, its grimy talons grasping at his throat.

Seeing this, Anwen shouts and charges, slamming into the crinwin⁷, knocking it off Padrig. It snarls and lunges at her. She brings her shield up in time, but the beast seizes its iron edge and tries to wrench it away from her. She feels a wet pop in her shoulder and blinding pain before the shield snaps off of her arm. Shadow races in, barking and snapping at the crinwin, but it hurls Anwen’s shield at him and leaps towards her, lopsided fangs bared. Anwen fights through the pain the and arrests crinwin’s lunge with her axe, burying the blade in its chest.

Above, the Companions turn their bows on the crinwin climbing down the canyon wall. Here and there, they let fly at the creatures, trying to sight them through the shadows and briars as they scurry down the canyon walls. Then, the crinwin are in the trees. Nimble as squirrels, they jump into the canopy, making the branches tremble as they scurry towards the hunting blinds. And, in the forest above, there comes a cacophony of howls, hisses, and rattling whispers. Many more are coming.⁸

Padrig sprints towards the tree, sword in hand. “Steel out, Oz! They are upon you!” He turns back to Anwen. “Into the ruin. Fetch Vahid, quickly. He is out of time!”

Anwen nods, and races towards the darkened doorway.

Session 1 // Scene 8: Below, a few minutes ago

Vahid paces the cellar, studying the hieroglyphs and arcane inscriptions that cover the stone walls, muttering darkly. Books and papers from his pack are strewn around the lantern, and he glances urgently between them and the markings.

“I knew I should’ve brought Abra the Elder’s works on the Green Lords. His grasp of the glyphs of the Early Dynasty is superior to Salonius’. Damn, damn. Perhaps if I begin again, here, and assume that we are speaking in the subjunctive…”

He’s so absorbed in grammar that he almost doesn’t notice the blue-white glow that now suffuses the chamber. When it begins to warm his face, he turns to see the root-woven arch blooming with life.

Hundreds of sky-blue blossoms have sprouted from the roots that form the arch, glowing with an unearthly light. As the blossoms open before Vahid’s eyes, the light grows brighter — motes of it float from the blooms like pollen, hanging in the air and settling on the stone floor. Vahid grabs the Azure Hand from its resting place, leaning on the near wall. Immediately, he feels it resonate painfully, sending an electric shudder up his spine. Now that the blossoms are fully open, it is hard to even look into the light, but he can see a silhouette at the center of the arch, moving slowly towards him. He holds the Hand in front of him, hoping it might shield him from whatever the arch brings forth. When the light fades he sees Blodwen looking back at him.

Her straw-blonde hair is braided and woven with a crown of the sky-blue blossoms, and she is clad in a flowing wrap of silver-grey cloth that shimmers in the lantern light. Her bright green eyes are dream-like, unfocused, until they find his, and sharpen. “Aren’t you that strange scholar from the public house? Did you come looking for me?” She takes a step towards him, but stumbles and sinks to the stone floor, a pained expression on her face. “I’m sorry. I must’ve danced a bit too much.” Her bare feet are bruised and bleeding.

Then, from above, Anwen’s urgent voice comes: “Vahid! The crinwin are here! We cannot stay any longer!”

Vahid rushes to Blodwen. “We did come looking for you. But we are now in danger and must go. Can you walk, with my aid?”

“Yes, I can. I just need a moment,” she says.

Vahid nods, hurriedly gathering his books.

Session 1 // Scene 9: A Ruin in the Woods

It’s knife work in the hunting blinds as the crinwin attempt to dislodge the Companions from their ambush. The handful that made it this far are quickly dispatched⁹, but many more are visible at the top of the canyon, starting the slow descent through the brambles.

Anwen is waiting impatiently by the doorway while Padrig holds their escape route, through the ravine and back towards Stonetop, when Vahid and Blodwen burst through the door. Anwen gasps. “She’s here! How?”

Vahid starts to answer, but Padrig cuts him off. “No time! Ozbeg, get the crew down here. We are leaving!”

The Companions scramble to obey, dropping down from the hunting blinds and grabbing their gear from the fireside, making toward the ravine. Padrig pulls Ozbeg aside. “We’ll hold them at the gap, they’ll have to come one at a time. It’s our best chance against this many.” Ozbeg snarls back “We shouldn’t even be out here looking for this girl. What do we gain from this fight, Padrig?”

Padrig replies, stone-faced. “Then lead the retreat, Oz. I’ll hold the gap and you take them back to the village.”

Before Ozbeg can bite back, Vahid interrupts. “Gentlemen, I believe I have an alternative.” Hefting the Azure Hand towards the bonfire, Vahid grasps the flame and wills it to the staff. The flame obeys, surging towards Vahid and encircling the aetherium head of his staff in a whorl of raging fire.¹⁰ He beckons the company through the gap and into the ravine, and, following behind them, he casts the fire from the Hand with a gesture. The flame leaps from the staff and explodes onto the briar thicket, swiftly igniting the dry, twisting vines. The narrow entrance to the ravine is now wreathed in fire, blocking the path of the crinwin, who are swarming down into the canyon.

The party withdraws down the ravine as Vahid watches the crinwin descend on the ruin from the canyon walls. Some snap and snarl at the wall of flame, but they do not pursue, gathering instead around the ruin’s entrance. From the center of the pack, one crinwin rises to its hind legs, holding itself taller than the rest. It peers back at Vahid, meeting his gaze, not with pale, cloudy eyes, but bright green eyes, shining in the firelight. The Forest Eyes. Vahid stares for a moment, and then hurridly follows after the Companions.

GM Notes

No player-by-player notes this time, since this installment is already a bit of a beast. This is the end of the first session, so I’d welcome any reactions in the comments section (or by email, if you’re shy).

In the next installment, we’ll do ‘end of session’ housekeeping (awarding XP, leveling up, etc.) and set up the next session. Now that we’re past Sessions 0-1, which are a bit of a prologue, I’m hoping to make things more interactive, starting with the planning for Session 2. In our next installment, we’ll:

1. Talk about the immediate aftermath of Session 1, including XP and any level-ups that needs to happen.

2. Figure out what we want our three characters to get up to in Session 2.

1. Anwen has used the Recover move during the time jump here, using some of Vahid’s supplies (since Vahid took a heavy load when the expedition started, and Anwen only took a light one). She gets 4 HP back, leaving her with 8.

2. Padrig uses Seek Insight and rolls at 8. He chooses the question “What should I be on the lookout for?” He can also still benefit from his Read the Land move in Part 2, meaning that he can get Advantage very readily during this conflict.

3. The Companions roll Let Fly, with a +1. Normally, they’d have advantage, since they’re acting on Padrig’s Seek Insight/Read the Land information, but we’ll rule here that they just avoid getting disadvantage since they’re fighting in the dead of night with shadowy illumination. They get a 12, total — a strong Hit.

4. We roll 1d6+5 for the Companion’s damage — their damage die is a d6, and we add +1 damage per warrior. Since it’s a volley, not a single shot, we can spread the damage out among the crinwin. We get a 6, for 11 damage. Crinwin have 3 HP (and 1 armor), so we deduct one damage, and we’ll kill 3 crinwin and wound the last one for 1 damage.

5. Anwen uses Clash. We’ll give her disadvantage here — she is terrified of the crinwin, and so far she hasn’t had a chance to tap into her righteous anger (she will be able to if the fight looks like it’s turning against them and someone might be lost). Despite the disadvantage, she rolls a 10. She does enough damage to drop the crinwin, and she triggers her Potential for Greatness move. We choose to increase her Constitution to +2 permanently. She’ll return to Stonetop very tough indeed.

6. Padrig Clashes here, and gets a weak hit, dispatching another crinwin. Instead of having the crinwin deal damage to him before dying, we’ll have the wounded crinwin return, getting the drop on him and putting him in a spot.

7. Here, we have Anwen activate Anger is a Gift, and spend her two Resolve immediately to set aside her fear and to act suddenly. She Clashes again, this time with advantage, and scores a weak hit, dealing enough damage to down the crinwin (we add +1 for Shadow’s help). It’s counterattack deals 6 — yikes! This would take her down to 2, but instead, we’re going to deal her a debility and take some of her gear away — specifically, her shield. She’s weakened until she has a chance to deal with her wound, and will have disadvantage on any move that uses Strength or Dexterity.

8. The Companions Let Fly again and get a 6. Rather than dealing damage to them, we increase the threat: More crinwin in the canyon above, coming soon.

9. The Companions roll Clash with Advantage and get an 11. They defeat this wave of crinwin. We’re abstracing this a bit since no PCs are directly involved, and we want to move this fight along rather than draw it out.

10. Vahid uses the Major Arcana ability of the Azure Hand, rolling +Constitution and getting a 10. This allows him to use the fire in a variety of ways, and we’ll allow him here to use it to block the crinwin’s pursuit, by using the Defy Danger move. He scores a weak hit. Rather than prolonging this encounter with a new danger, we have our heroes escape, but reveal another danger they may have to deal with later — the green-eyed crinwin.