The War: Sessions Zero and One

Session Zero

Bleak Spirit advises that you get as specific as you need to when creating the world, because, once the gameplay starts, players cannot discuss the setting anymore. So Kyle and I decided to make setting building for this game its own session. And, while we didn't get into too much detail, we did set up a solid framework to run the first session on.

The setting revolves around the conflict between the God of Light, Ahura Mazda, and the God of Dark, Ahriman. Their conflict was so destructive that the world sealed itself away from them as much as they could, offering sacrifice to the two gods so that they would stay away just far enough so that the world could continue on. The sacrifices were conducted at The Castle of Twilight, a two-keep castle situated over Twilight Gorge, a bottomless window into the abyss, where you could see Ahura Mazda and Ahriman fight. Straddling this abyss is The Bridge of Vigilance, where the sacrifices were cast in to drive away the conflicting gods.

The main character, we decided would be an armored man called Orpheus, with cut vocal cords. He wielded an ornamental sword with a blue stone in the pommel. The blue stone allowed Orpheus to sing spell songs, of undetermined power and scope. The sapphire, when activated, covered the affected area in a strong blue light.

Session One

The Twilight Gorge had a bottom, contrary to popular myth, a swamp that goes on and on and on. But somewhere in this morass is an awful and nasty hole, which leads to the World of Night. It stands unguarded. No one goes in, and no one goes out; who would want to enter and who could leave? And, for untold aeons, no one did. Until one day, when Orpheus crawled out, into the Twilight Gorge Swamp. Lumbering through the swamp in his heavy armor, Orpheus heard a hissing behind him, calling out to him by name.

"Orpheuuuuuuuuussssssssss...... Ooooooooooooooooorpheusssssssssssssssssssssss...."

Orpheus ignored the call, and climbed up the cliff, onto the The Bridge of Vigilance. At the top of the bridge stood a figure in full armor, identical to what Orpheus was wearing. Staring at him for a moment Orpheus sang a song that required all that heard it to give him their true name. Nothing happened. A song of abjuring all Nameless things followed. Orpheus doubled over in pain, and the armored figure collapsed.  After a moment of rest Orpheus entered the Keep of Darkness, pain slowly fading. 

The gate doors swung wide onto a scene of absolute carnage. Desiccated corpses of drakes lay upon desiccated corpses of drakes. Draconic heads on plaques adorned the walls of the courtyard. There was one blank plaque on the wall, with an inscription: Arthkurn the Relentless. Orpheus looked at the main entrance to the keep, alone in his thoughts. He looked to his left and saw the stairs to the nearby tower. He took the stairs.

All of a sudden Orpheus was pushing his way through the keep gates again. The corpses were on fire, and the the plaques were all empty, except for the bleached skull on the wall; it was Arthkurn the Relentless's skull. Orpheus came to, slumped against the wall, next to the stairway. He got up and trudged up the stairs.

As he climbed Orpheus saw winged monstrosities, in the form of twisted dragons, wheeling about above him. The song that followed set these aberrations on fire and brought one of them crashing into the stairwell in front of Orpheus. The stairs began to slowly retract into the wall. Orpheus tried to freeze the flaming form, but nothing happened. He tried to superheat the flaming form with a Song of Light, but the song wouldn't come to him, dying on his lips. Finally a song of heaving cut through the blue light. The burning corpse flung Orpheus over him, into the tower, as the stairs finally retracted into the wall.

As Orpheus got to the top of the tower he looked out at the world around him; the world was one vast, grey fog. There was nothing beyond The Castle of Twilight, nothing at all. Orpheus was not surprised at this and barely paid it any heed. There was a slot in the wall. Orpheus put his sword in the slot. The whole castle shook as the stairs in the walls began to slide back out; Orpheus's sword was being sucked into the slot. Orpheus just barely managed to retrieve his sword, and the stairs slid back into the wall. 

Orpheus looked around. The Keep of Darkness had a few holes in the roof, and Orpheus looked through, into the darkness. In the back of the Keep of Darkness Orpheus saw a desiccated corpse of an enormous dragon, staked down. To the right of the Keep was a small courtyard with a shining fountain.  Orpheus lay down and crafted a song of longing, of loneliness. Something cold and long dead appeared, in Orpheus' peripheral vision. Orpheus did not look at it. A few seconds later he heard the SNAP of the slot taking a sword, and the stairs slid back out. Orpheus got back out; he was alone. He walked back down the stairs the way he came. 

The courtyard was completely clear of everything as Orpheus came back down the stairs. The perpetual twilight of the the world had become a hot and humid high noon. A purple light was shining through the gates that led back to the Bridge of Vigilance. Orpheus looked between that gate and the doors that led into the Keep. In his mind Orpheus made up his mind: he had to stop his past self, he needed to! He threw the gates back open, rust flying off of the hinges and, bathed in that purple light, Orpheus strode out to meet himself, swearing an oath through a now-intact throat that he would would stop himself before it was too late.

Orpheus saw himself on the bridge. There was still a world at this point. He called out to himself, begging him to stop it. The war needed to go on, the world needed to continue, it wasn't too late to stop what he was up to! His past self replied that  it was too late. Orpheus commanded himself to give up the gems, which his past self found confusing. Orpheus wrenched his foe's hands open: there was a blue gem and a red gem. Orpheus told him it could stop. His past self responded back that he would never stop. Orpheus drew his ceremonial blade and cut his foe's throat. Both of them fell back as a huge cut appeared on their throats. His foe grabbed Orpheus and pitched them over the side, into the roiling chaos that was the battle of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. As they fell Orpheus sang one last song: he broke the red and blue gem his foe wielded, and protected his enemy's fall. The swamp snapped into existence suddenly. Orpheus's  neck broke in the fall. His foe crawled away as the valley coalesced into the swamp. 

Up above the grey fog broke and the world came back into existence, and the swamp broke open, welcoming the return of the slumbering Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. Far away, in the Keep of Darkness, the lone dracolich Arthkurn broke free from his constraints and flew away into the newly renewed world.