Last episode, our heroes continued their delve into the lair of Odo Thriceborn and his cursed ‘family.’ Padrig did so at the point of a spear — while he hoped to pass himself off as an aspiring member of Odo’s gang, he was unfortunately recognized by one of Odo’s veterans, earning him a trip directly to the prisoner’s pens.
Meanwhile, Anwen, Baraz1 and Vahid, along with Mutra and her two bravos, have taken a high path leading to a largely deserted part of the Maker complex Odo has taken as his home. There, they came upon a ripe opportunity — Odo’s lieutenant and consort, Dawa Eyegouger, was contemplating her fate under the Howling Curse, watcher over the cage where the Most-Blessed are kept — the members of Odo’s gang who have been fully transformed into bestial monsters.
Vahid proposed that they attempt to take her alive and turn her against Odo by using her fear of the curse. Mutra pointed out, not unreasonably, that Dawa Eyegouger is a bloody-handed killer who has stood by Odo for years, and that taking her alive is a needless risk to their secrecy. The decision was left up to Anwen — let’s see what you folks chose for her:
Anwen, true to form, is ready to give someone called “Eyegouger” a shot at redemption. Risky, to be sure, but no doubt in her warrior’s heart, she would prefer a straight fight to all this sneakin’ around. We’ll jump right back into this scene — Anwen will lead the effort to capture Dawa, but Mutra’s people may take some convincing.
Housekeeping
Before we dive back into the fiction, a brief housekeeping note — this episode, like the previous one, has been cut into two — it’s still pretty long, but it only covers a single scene and doesn’t land us on a meaty dilemma, so it feels like a two-parter! I’m not actually sure how much the episode notation makes sense or matters to y’all, so if you have a strong opinion, hold forth!
“I have looked into her mind. Her loyalty to Odo rests on a knife’s edge. If we take her alive, we can offer her a chance to turn against her cruel master and undo some of the wrong she has done.”
“She’ll never turn,” Mutra snarls. “She is as bloody-handed as he is!”
“The curse drives her. She craves release from it.”
“I have her release right here,” Ollem growls, hefting his heavy blade.
“Anwen?” Vahid says pointedly. “What is your command?”
Anwen looks to Mutra. “We are outnumbered — if we have a chance to turn one of Odo’s lieutenants, we have to take it. It’s a dangerous path, but it might be our only true way through.”
Vahid is aiding Anwen here, but she still needs to convince Mutra and her men.
Anwen triggers Persuade: 1+4+2 = 5, Miss
A miss here could be a substantial reversal — Mutra makes a play for leadership of the expedition. But I want to introduce that threat gradually, since the PCs worked hard to establish this alliance, so we Reveal an Unwelcome Truth — Mutra’s camp is only loosely aligned, and will try to make a move against Dawa when they have a chance.
Mutra nods reluctantly, and Vahid sees the murderous gleam in Ollem’s eye. Before he can speak again, Anwen motions to Baraz, crouches low and darts around the corner, with the hulking Lygosi close behind her.
Baraz aids Anwen and off they go.
Anwen triggers Defy Danger with Strength: 6+5+1+2 Strength = 13, Strong Hit
In a moment, they are upon her. Anwen claps her arms around Dawa, wrapping up her arms and covering her mouth as Baraz and Ollem rush in, helping to take her down to the ground and drag her beyond the corner.
When Dawa is taken, the creatures in the cage raise a great cacophony — howls and twisted, shrieking, high-pitched laughter. The beast that watched Dawa begins to throw itself at the cage gate, the clang of iron echoing through the halls.
Here, we’ll start a 4-tick countdown clock, and once its filled, a squad from Odo’s gang will investigate. The Most-Blesseds’ ruckus will fill one tick now — remember, we can fill ticks whenever appropriate, not just in response to misses!
Anwen and the two men bear Dawa to the ground and drag her around the corner into one of the Ustrina cells as she struggles in vain against her captors.
Dawa Eyegouger, Odo’s lady. Source: Midjourney
Vahid kneels beside her and speaks quickly and quietly, his shining blue eye level with her burning yellow ones. "I will speak plainly: You are in the hands of those you would call 'enemy.' These men wish you dead, and only this, our parley, forestalls that fate."
Vahid gently touches his missing eye. "I have looked into your mind and seen your fear -- the grasp of the Howling Curse, tightening its grip on you. Making you into a monster. You need a cure, or you soon will be lost."
He’s trying to calm her down and get her to listen. This could easily trigger either Persuade or Defy Danger with Charisma — there was a really insightful discussion in the Stonetop Discord2 about it — but in this case, I decided to use Defy Danger because I wanted to be able to move on quickly from this part of the conversation, and inflict some small consequences (like ticks on the clock) rather than having Vahid somehow prove out his intentions.3 Vahid has advantage on this roll, thanks to the information he received from Seek Insight, earlier in the scene.
Vahid triggers Defy Danger with Charisma: 3+6+1 Charisma = 10, Strong Hit
Dawa’s eyes focus on Vahid, widening for a moment with wild hope before they dart suspiciously to Mutra and her men, watching with hateful eyes. Vahid nods to Anwen, who removes her hand from Dawa's mouth.
"There is no cure for the Howling Curse—only death," Dawa whispers.
Vahid triggers Know Things -- what does he know about where a cure for a curse might be found?
6+5+2 Intelligence = 13, Strong Hit
"What have you done to seek one? Have you spoken to the wisest elders of the Barrier Peaks? Have you sought the lost wisdom of the Rime Lords, who once ruled your mountains and surely contended with the curse and its master? Or even the works of the Forge Lords here in the Delve, who were said to be skilled in the creation of healing khemia4? What aid has Odo promised you to make you such a loyal servant to his cause?"
Dawa's yellow eyes eyes, at first narrowed, now widen with hope. "Odo says he can teach me to control it, as he does."
Vahid gestures in the direction of the snarling creatures on the other side of the makeshift iron barrier. "Do they sound like they are in control? Did Odo save them?"
Her eyes flick back towards the creatures and then to Vahid, and then they become unfocused and darting as though she seeks the source of an unheard voice. Then, her voice flares with anger, and she struggles against Anwen and Baraz's hold on her. "You lie. You have no cure."
This is a very risky plan, and so from the GM’s perspective, we should throw a bunch of complications — like Dawa being manipulated by the Howling Curse — at the players and make them roll to deal with it. In PbtA generally, the two ways to up the difficult or risk of a given situation is either to make harder moves or more moves, and I generally prefer to make more moves, since it gives the players more to work with.
Anwen triggers Defy Danger with Strength: 5+6+2 Strength = 13, Strong Hit
Her chest swells as she gathers a howl of alarm, but Anwen is there, clapping a leather gauntlet over her mouth.
Vahid recaptures her gaze, his blue eye now shining brighter as his heart quickens with fear in his chest. "Come to your senses, Dawa. Even now, the whispers of Odo's master lead you away from the truth. No one will find a cure if no one seeks it, and I am a Seeker for such things. I have found such magics that have allowed me to look into your mind and see that you fear the beast you are becoming. Magics that have allowed me to lead my comrades here under a veil of shadows, unseen even by Odo's all-seeing eye. I have lent my aid to many, and I will lend it to you, too."
The tension drains from Dawa's body. She looks exhausted, but her eyes are clear as she shakes the whispers from her head. Apprehensively, Anwen removes her hand from Dawa's mouth.
"What do you want of me, then, for this aid?" she whispers.
"Odo must die this night. His life means the Delve's doom. Surely you can see that."
An important question here as Vahid tries to turn Dawa is whether he can trigger Let's Make a Deal, which applies if he is persuading her with something she wants and will upgrade weak hits to strong ones. Of course, she definitely wants a cure to the Howling Curse. But Vahid doesn't have that -- he only has an assurance that he will help her seek one. For that reason, I played this as a straight Persuade roll.
Vahid triggers Persuade: 4+4+1 Charisma = 9, Weak Hit.
A weak hit means Dawa needs some sort of assurances or further proof. Back to the action:
"He is all that stands between me and the curse. You ask me to risk everything, and offer me only promises. Even if I wished to help you, Odo has been banished from death by the Howling Curse. I have seen him return from beyond the Last Door with my own eyes."
Vahid searches his knowledge on this -- is it likely that the Howling Curse is the source of Odo's unnatural rebirth5?
5+4+2 Intelligence = 11, Strong Hit
Vahid knows it it much more likely that Odo is a Thrall, a human who has pledged service to one of the Things Below in exchange for unnatural vigor -- an abomination most foul, festering beneath Gordin's Delve. He will, however, keep this information to himself for now.
"Leave that to me," Vahid whispers. "As for my promises: Perhaps you should go to Odo. Ask him if he will seek a cure for you, his lady. Ask him how he is so certain one does not exist. See what promises he will make you and if you think them worthy of your trust."
Dawa's eyes widen in disbelief. "You would release me to go to Odo?"
"What better proof of our intentions?" Vahid replies. "Speak your fears aloud to him. Press him on what promises he has made, and see if he still holds your trust."
"Over my dead fuckin' body," Ollem growls. He advances, drawing a jagged iron shiv from his belt. "Blood for blood is the law of the Delve." He rushes forward to strike as Dawa struggles in Anwen and Baraz's grip.
Without hesitation, Anwen releases her hold on Dawa and blocks Ollem's path. The brute goes to shove her aside, but her hands are twisting around his knife hand, driving him into the wall and holding him there with her shoulder. Her mind is racing. "What would Pad do?"
She whispers in Ollem's ear as he struggles against her -- Anwen is strong, but she can only hold the towering bravo for a few more moments. "You're a damn fool, Ollem, and you'll get us killed. You're lucky I don't let your boss deal with you; she'd be much less gentle than me." Her eyes dart to Mutra, quietly demanding her support. The boss's dark eyes narrow -- Anwen can see she'd be just as happy to see Dawa dead.
Here, Anwen is trying to convince Ollem -- and with him, Mutra -- to get with the program. She is not triggering her Speak Truth to Power move here -- that move requires you loudly demand that that the target do the right thing, and at the gaming table, I'd stipulate that triggering that move would also add ticks to the countdown clock we established, which Anwen does not wish to do.
Anwen triggers Persuade: 5+2+0 Charisma = 7, Weak Hit
A weak hit requires her to do something to convince Ollem to back down. Her initial warning involved a threat of physical violence, so following through will suffice.
Anwen triggers Clash: 3+4+2 Strength = 9, Weak Hit
She takes some damage from Ollem, but deals him a blow worth thinking about.
Ollem deals 3 damage, Anwen has 13 remaining
Anwen deals 2 damage. Ollem has 4 remaining.
The bravo doesn't heed her -- he wrenches his hand free, dropping his dagger, and shoves off from the wall, pushing Anwen back. He stands a head taller than her, so his chin is level with her forehead when she slams the top of her skull into it, sending Ollem staggering back, spitting blood, and slumping against the wall.
Behind her, Vahid and Baraz contend with Dawa Eyegouger. When she sees Ollem's blade, the hope and uncertainty in her eyes are overtaken by rage -- they flash golden, like a predator's, and her face twitches as the whispers grow louder in her mind. Baraz struggles to hold her, but she fights him with a beast's strength.
Anwen is too busy to trigger Order Followers on Baraz by telling him what to do, so he is acting on his own initiative -- according to the Order Followers move text, when that happens, the GM decides what they do and what happens. Baraz doesn't relish violence the way other bravos of Gordin's Delve do, so he's going to just try to hold on, and to decide how it goes, I'll use the Ironsworn Yes/No oracle:
Does Baraz keep Dawa contained? Yes, but...
For this result, we'll say that he is able to hold her, but not for very long -- whatever Vahid does next had better calm her down.
Even as she grows more savage, Vahid approaches her with quiet calm. "Remember yourself, Dawa. The curse wants you -- it needs you. It seeks to drag you back into Odo's shadow. But you are still a human, not a beast. You still have a choice."
Vahid triggers Defy Danger with Charisma: 3+6+1 Charisma = 10, Strong Hit.
This is a pretty critical strong hit -- if Dawa lost it, there'd likely be no saving her, and Anwen and Vahid would lose a ton of face in front of Mutra the Teeth and her bravos. That still might happen -- but it's at least been forestalled a bit.
Vahid's glowing blue eye recaptures Dawa's attention, and his quiet voice pierces through the susurrations of the Thing Below. The all-too-human fear and doubt return to her face, and she goes limp in Baraz's grasp.
Anwen, meanwhile, looms over Ollem as he shakes the daze from his head and wipes the blood from his face. She summons Padrig's intonations from her memory. "Fall in."
Ollem hesitates, but before he can reply, Mutra stops him cold. "With me, Ollem. There'll be plenty of blood before the night is done." Chastened but still full of anger, Ollem takes his place by his boss's side.
Vahid's attention remains on Dawa as she returns to her senses. "What would you have me do if Odo proves faithless?" She asks helplessly. "The others, they have not seen what I have seen in the mountains -- what the curse can do to people. They believe Odo is leading them to victory."
"Is there no one you can trust? No one else who wants a way out of this madness?" Anwen asks.
Dawa nods hesitantly. "A few."
"And how many has Odo?" Mutra asks grimly.
"26 knives since we last counted them at sunset service. And a half-dozen of the most-blessed."
Mutra swears under her breath. "That's the biggest gang in the Delve. More than Ffransis and Draigh have combined."
"Odo has been planning revenge on you and the others for two years now." She glances at Ollem. "Blood for blood. He thinks you, Jahalim, and Draigh used Bastard Brennan as a weapon against him, and once they thought the Lady of Crows had him in her grasp, only then did they move to give their 'aid.'"
Anwen glances at Mutra -- her face betrays neither denial nor shame. "How did Odo survive?" she asks bluntly.
Dawa blinks back tears. "He tells me I saved him from the Last Door. When I was deep in my cups, I told him everything. When I was young, my village was taken by Kyakaara, the Howlers. -- the creatures Odo has named 'the Most-Blessed.' They carried the Howling Curse with them and compelled us to commit bloody outrages on one another. Only three of us survived -- my brother was one of them; his hand guided mine when I..." she pauses. A single sob wracks her body. Then, the words begin to tumble out of her once again.
"We escaped when Helior was bright in the sky -- they hunt at night, mostly. My brother led us through the wilds to a settlement and told us to wait and watch while he tried to find help. But there was no help there. Instead, he found a hunter, stalking the creatures who had taken us. He cut my brother down when he saw his yellow eyes. I still remember how his blood boiled on the orichalcum blade, and I knew I was cursed, too. We ran and separated, and somehow, I escaped. I had nowhere to go; I begged in mountain villages until a caravan master offered me passage to Gordin’s Delve if I would be his servant. All along the road, I heard the whispers. I hoped they would fade when I got farther away from... it. The Howling Wind."
"What is its name?" Vahid presses.
"To know its name is a curse. If it is spoken aloud, it hears."
"My magic has abjured all who would scry upon us6. Tell me now, while we are protected."
"It is the Preta-Raj, The Lord of Hungry Ghosts. Y'aaw'kara77 is its name. I told Odo, and when the Last Door opened for him, he called out the thing's name, and it heard him." she hisses.
They’re trying to get information out of Dawa, and fortunately, she is in a confessional mood but it’s taking a while. Another tick on the clock to keep the pressure on.
Vahid nods. "In Al-Hazred's The Dwellers in Darkness, hewrites ofthose whogive themselves to the Things Below for unnatural life and power. Odo used you to forge an alliance with your tormentor." “8
"Can we kill him?" Mutra asks.
"A blade will lay him low like any other mortal, but he will rise again. We will need to take his body," Vahid says blandly.
Anwen grimaces. "Then let's be about it. We've tarried here too long." She regards Dawa. "Speak with Odo. If you are with us, gather those you can trust. Lay low. And wait."
"Yes," Vahid says. "There is one more thing you must know, Dawa. One of our number has been taken by Odo's family. You know him: Padrig, formerly of the Claws."
"Padrig the Hound? Bastard Brennan's man?" Dawa hisses.
"He, like you, realized that his life had become something monstrous," Vahid says evenly. "And like you, he is reaching for something better."
"It's true," Anwen says. "He's risked his life for common folk with no promise of reward. Folk like you and your brother before this all went wrong."
Anwen is aiding Vahid here, as he tries to keep their prospective double-agent from reconsidering.
Vahid triggers Defy Danger with Charisma: 6+3+1+1 Charisma = 10, Strong Hit.
Hot dice. This has been a very tricky situation -- just about as many rolls as an elaborate combat. Ironically, if they just backstabbed Dawa that probably would've been resolved by a single roll.
Her eyes harden with resolve. "Where is he?"
“One of Odo’s men took him into the complex — the Gasper, they called him,” Anwen supplies.
“They’ll take him to the pens,” Dawa says. “There, he’ll wait until he’s chosen for service, at sunrise or sunset. Belike Odo won’t let Brennan’s hound wait long before he’s called up.”
“What are these services?” Vahid asks.
“Twice a day — when the wolves hunt, at sunrise and sunset, prisoners are brought up from the pens to the pits. There, they must fight with whatever we give them. Shivs, stakes, stones, or just their hands, until the sands are red with blood, and Odo calls a stop to it. Then we feast with the survivors.” Her voice trails off into a shamed silence.
“If they refuse?”
“Odo unleashes the Most-Blessed upon them, and when those things have had their sport, those who remain are cast back into the pens to encourage the others.”
“Hard to believe there’s anything left,” Mutra mutters.
“Odo controls the Howlers — his voice is a terror to them; they heed it without question.”
“If we silence Odo, no one will control them,” Vahid says. “Will they turn on the others?”
“Maybe,” Dawa says hopefully. “They are wild and unpredictable, and they hate that we have confined them. But they are cunning: They look like beasts, but something still thinks and plots within.”
“We will have to find a way to stoke their fury,” Vahid says.
“And we’ve faced them before,” Anwen says. “They can be beaten. Can you make contact with Padrig?”
“Yes,” Dawa says. “Odo often bids me to choose the prisoners for the pits.”
“Find him then,” she pleads. “Help him however you can. We will plan to strike at this sunrise service. And we will do everything we can to help you and yours to be free from this curse.”
Dawa bows her head in silent acceptance. Then she rises and withdraws from the Ustrina’s chamber as Mutra and her men look on with grudging acceptance.
We’ll cut the episode here and pick it back up next week, checking back in on Padrig as he descends into the prisoners’ pens. Thanks as always for reading!
Astute readers may have noticed that I completely forgot Baraz was present in their most recent scene. I may go back and add him in for later readers and re-readers, but I’ll preserve my error for posterity in this footnote.
This is the Ancient Greek word for “alchemy,” standing in for Lygosi. Counter-intuitively, the English words “alchemy” and “chemistry” come not from Greek but from the Arabic, al-kīmiyā, which in turn comes from Greek. Other English technical words that start with “al” — algorithm and algebra, for example, likewise come from Arabic.
Padrig first clued them into Odo’s resurrection (when he went from Odo Twiceborn to Odo Thriceborn) Session 12.5, when he triggered Keep Company with dear departed Finbar.
This is Vahid’s Proof Against Detection advancement. Protecting from the scrying of a Thing Below is a big deal, but this is a Level 6+ advancement, so it should deliver some oompf.
For those GMs or players who don’t mind some spoilers for this or other Stonetop campaigns, you can read about this eldritch horror in Stonetop’s setting guide!
This episode came in hot (hotter than usual, anyway) and I didn't have a ton of time to do editing -- there are some substantial edits that won't be reflected in the email, particularly the adjudication of the initial miss result when Anwen attempts to persuade Mutra and her squad. Take a look!
It's good to see that a/this social combat has quite some rolls. Often, physical combat in rpgs have a much higher dice roll ratio so it's nice to se it out of combat too.
This episode came in hot (hotter than usual, anyway) and I didn't have a ton of time to do editing -- there are some substantial edits that won't be reflected in the email, particularly the adjudication of the initial miss result when Anwen attempts to persuade Mutra and her squad. Take a look!
It's good to see that a/this social combat has quite some rolls. Often, physical combat in rpgs have a much higher dice roll ratio so it's nice to se it out of combat too.