I'm Still Playing Breath of the Wild

I'm currently stuck on getting rid of Seath in Dark Souls. I've been meaning to go get him, and I've been having fun with the game and all that, but I've not been playing recently. Maybe it's because I've been doing a ton of really emotionally intense TTRPGs, particularly The Undertow which, while cathartic, is still a story about a woman coming to terms with the fact that she comes from a system of exploitation, rape, and demonic possession. So maybe I'm not really wanting to run into something which is also the product of exploitation and lies and filth as well? Who knows?

Anyway, I just keep finding myself in Breath of the Wild. I'm not upgrading hearts, at all, so I'm creeping along in a world that can very easily kill me, but that's about the only similarity I'm seeing with Dark Souls. The world is bright, open, and quiet. There's all this cutesy sound effect stuff with cooking, the people you run into are pretty chatty and helpful, by and large, and it's just so friggin' relaxing. It's a similar feeling I get to actually being outside, surrounded by the woods back at my in-law's house. You can't get the exact same thing in a video game as you do out in the real woods, but there's this sense of calm that pervades the world. There's nothing immediately pressing that you need to go do.

But the thing about Breath of the Wild isn't necessarily about how relaxing it is. There's multiple mechanical systems that have interesting little bits and bobs about them. You've got climbing, which uses differing amounts of stamina based off on how you are moving. And yes, rain completely and utterly hoses you at lower stamina levels, but some of my most enjoyable times in the game happened in a rainstorm, when I found myself going into unexplored territory out of sheer necessity. The system allowed me to appreciate the environment that had been crafted. I was interacting with the world.

Combat itself isn't the most interesting thing, but it certainly has enough tidbits to make it fun. Dodging, reflecting, sneaking, all of that works, and it works well. It's simple, intuitive, and keeps things moving. That being said, it's a lot simpler (and more fun!) to find creative ways to use the environment to kill off creatures. Master Mode kind of skews with this by giving the creatures health regeneration, but we'll get into why that isn't necessarily a problem in another blog post. Regardless, my current run is on normal mode. And it's a lot of fun to fight when I have to, but more fun to find ways to not fight at all. Which is clearly the design intent.

I've always loved weapon breakage. Yup, I know, a lot of people hate it, but it goes back to the core of the game: exploring the world. You cannot just wade through the world, killing willy nilly, ignoring exploration, because your weapons break. That and the fact that there are no health regens outside of towns without grabbing food means that you are always pushed back into the environment. You have to note areas that have specific foods and scrounge when you don't have what you need.

And then there are those moments when you just run into sheer beauty.

I mean, wow. Just wow. Playing this game you get immersed in the sheer beauty of it all. And yes, Dark Souls has those moments as well, but they're purposefully rare. Every time I wind back up at Firelink Shrine I stop and bask in just the sheer beauty of that area, in the music, in the view from the top of the Shrine, in the conversations I can actually have with the people there. But the rest of that game is a trudge through darkness. And yeah, I enjoy it, and I really want to go back to it, but right now?

I'm just basking in the beauty of Breath of the Wild. Again.

May the Power Protect You: Tommy Oliver (MMPR White)

The White Ranger is one of the most unique characters in the game: he doesn't have a dedicated role. Even Trini, who was the jack-of-all-trades of the original five, has at least something of a dedicated role: she piggy-backs others and combos with them. She has some form of focus. MMPR White doesn't have a focus. He has a little bit of everything. It can make him the lynchpin for any number of teams. Play Tommy if you want to fit in almost anywhere, regardless of what others have picked. He is the exception to the rule that character ability and deck, together, determine how a character plays.

Guardian Light is one those character abilities that's really useful, assuming it's remembered. Someone will be sitting there, taking damage, and they'll turn to Tommy's player and go "Wait, don't you have something to increase the number of shields on this card?" And the Tommy player will go "Oh, shoot, right! I do! Here you go!" Everyone laughs and the Tommy player is a little embarrassed. Don't worry; anyone who's played Tommy has been there. But that's alright. Other people can remember that ability if you want them to. They benefit from it, after all. More defensive teams benefit from Guardian Light since it allows them to get their combos off, whereas more offensive teams will be able to keep cards out of their discard pile.

Rallying Light is a very simple ability: lose all your energy, gain one! It's not very flashy, but I have a thing on this column for pointing out that not-flashy things are usually just as, if not more, important than the big damaging stuff and rerolls and whatnot. Rallying Light lets you keep your momentum going. You know you can afford to be more aggressive, because the energy pool will go just a tad bit farther. It's not something that impacts White Ranger's deck, but White Ranger isn't really about himself, but about his group. And having this once a battle buff helps keep the group rolling along. It's a nice little psychological bump.

Flash Kick is my favorite MMPR White card, full stop. This one card has saved entire fights for my group, particularly if you double it up. Re-rolls don't work on it, unfortunately, since those abilities apply to attack rolls. But when this thing lands? It feels so good. And it's pretty easy to recover as well. This card is a no-brainer, fire and forget when you get it! It's easily one of the most valuable cards in the game.

The other card I find myself gravitating towards all the time is Guardian Armor. It's the highest unconditional energy gaining card that in the game. It allows you to eat a hit and gain a good amount of energy. And the beautiful thing is that you don't have to be the one to take the hit, at least not right away! Just putting the card back on the top of your deck can be done for any number of reasons, like knowing that it'll be there for the next combat. Sure, you might eat a hit using it, but that's usually not the end of the world, not if it lets you get your group moving again.

Saba Slash is the most flexible power weapon we have to date. Roll five dice and divide the damage however you like. Well, I mean excepting GUARD, which works against anything with the word ATTACK in it, unless otherwise specified, which this card does not. But still, with that level of flexibility, it's hard to not use this card in pretty much any situation you can afford it. This card exemplifies what MMPR White is all about: being useful in any situation, at any time. I tend to use it with impunity.

The Tiger Zord's ability to play a zero-cost card after a Maneuver (read: Dragon Dagger works with it just fine) is one of the most powerful abilities in the game. Pair this up with a Maneuver granting another card and you can start a chain reaction of combos that let you get some serious momentum gain. The game just works so much more smoothly with the Tigerzord's existence that you can almost guarantee being able to outpace the enemy.

The White Ranger is the one character I know of whose deck and ability interactions are not intrinsically intertwined. A true jack-of-all-trades, the White Ranger fits into any and all groups pretty seamlessly, always filling in the gaps of your group construction. He may not be able to do anything as well as anyone else, but no one else has his breadth. The White Ranger is very much so the person to pick if you want to do a little bit of everything.

In the interest of clarity, I helped playtest Rallying Light. A sincere thanks to Jonathan Ying and Renegade for the opportunity.

EDIT: A heartfelt thanks to Tom Chorn for helping me further clarify a point I was trying to make on Guardian Armor. 

The Undertow: Session Ten

 

Mikansia: the main character, a female elf played by Lena. Last session she had surrendered herself to the dark elves, claiming to be the Yetekaida, so long as the siege stopped. She has now been captured by Krakeru and the dark elves of Elfharrow.

Krakeru: Mikansia's dark elf father. It was revealed that Krakeru and Makirta, Mikansia's mother, were brother and sister, born to be broken and abused by the eldritch cult the Lone Keep. Eventually Krakeru had decided to own the role assigned to him by his family, finally getting Makirta to conceive Mikansia. Decades later, he met his daughter, and was asked by her how to hear the Nameless. He raped her and then channeled the Nameless at the human fort of Elfwatch, causing the humans inside it to lose themselves, a day at a time.

Jabez: a fellow Sword Singer who helped Mikansia to get to the surface, by hiring human smugglers to get her away from Kotae Mah. He paid for this by giving his elven sword to the smugglers to sell. Mikansia swapped out her sword for Jabez's, vowing to return it to him someday.

Nomi: A dark elf from Sabina's Castle, Nomi had been given a Dagger of Betrayal to stab into the back of her sister, Anneli. She decided not to, and that about broke her. Anneli left what was left of Nomi with Marian, the Countess of Fire, who promised to take care of Nomi.

The Dragon: Also from Sabina's Castle, the Dragon was formerly the Dwarf, who had become cursed to be in draconic form by misusing a Dagger of Betrayal. Marian promised that she would help The Dragon find redemption, somehow.

Tyce: a soldier that Mikansia had slept with in a one night stand. When he began to be destroyed by the Nameless Mikansia helped him regain his sense of self. He had somehow broken through the siege lines, promising to send help.

Akseli: Mikansia's commander. He had been in love with Makirta and abandoned her when she revealed that she was a dark elf. He was wiped by the Nameless, and by the time he regained himself Makirta had long gone into the Void. Finding Mikansia, he vowed to never abandon Mikansia.

Yngvar: Mikansia's Firstsword. He had been in love with Makirta, like his best friend Akseli, but was burned by her earlier on and nursed a grudge against her. He had transferred this grudge over to Mikansia, only to repent when he saw Mikansia's nobility.

Content Warning: Lots and lots of psychological torture, some sexual assault, and just a generally dark and awful series of events that somehow goes the right way. Somehow.

The dark elf resembled a giant party more than a military camp. There was music playing, wine flowed, and there were a number of elven women wandering about, flirting with the men. Mikansia was disgusted and surprised. Someone grabbed Mikansia by the waist, from behind. She slipped out of the grasp and whirled around.

It was Jabez. but his eyes were wrong.

Mikansia froze.

Jabez knocked Mikansia over. He pulled her pants off. She was too surprised to resist. That's when Mikansia realized that Jabez was naked already. Hard. And barking, whining.

Krakeru yanked Jabez off Mikansia and kicked him so hard Mikansia could hear the ribs cracking. "Down boy!" he yelled. Mikansia hurredly pulled her pants back on as a crowd gathered. Mikansia jumped up to stop Krakeru from further harming Jabez, but a very pointed look stopped her in her tracks. Krakeru wasn't just threatening; he actually seemed concerned about the other elves finding out about her bond with Jabez.

Some of the females joked that they'd not seen such sire in the males in a long time! One of them nudged Mikansia; too bad the Yetekaida couldn't have any fun, because she knew for a fact that Jabez was a ton of fun.

The crowd dispersed and Mikansia pleaded with Krakeru: how had Jabez, with all his nobility, descended to barking like a dog and almost raping her? Krakeru produced a vial: the most powerful aphrodisiac ever devised. It was also highly addictive, to a level that was impossible to understand. When Krakeru was younger they'd kept him on it.  It took twenty years for Krakeru to come off it. Krakeru  produced another vial.  This drug produced such an incredible high! And it was always given whenever Krakeru consented to make a female pregnant, especially Makirta. it took thirty years to get off of that drug. Jabez had been passed along a good number of women, all over Elfharrow. He'd had the drug so often Krakeru was pretty certain he'd die from the withdrawals.

Krakeru took Mikansia to his tent, which made Mikansia almost have a panic attack. Krakeru tied Jabez to a nearby tree, told him to stay, and motioned inside to Mikansia. Steeling herself, Mikansia went inside. The tent was big enough for both of them to have their own space, and Mikansia took it. She asked why Krakeru had gotten off the drugs. Krakeru said he didn't need them to do his duty, and so they weaned him off. Outside Mikansia heard someone straddle Jabez and got to work. A couple of minutes later she got him, declared herself pregnant, and was escorted to the special tent for pregnant dark elves. Krakeru got up and gave Jabez his drug, getting him high. A few minutes later she heard Jabez sigh in relief, and actually verbalize thanks for the drug. He was coherent, finally.

When he came back into the tent Krakeru had some steak and a cup of human wine. The wine didn't smell quite right, and Mikansia should know, considering how much she had been drinking recently! Krakeru had put something into it. She tried to fake drinking it. Krakeru lay down and closed his eyes. Mikansia waited.

And waited.

Blinked. And waited.

Krakeru's breathing never sounded quite right.

So Mikansia waited.

Eventually Krakeru sat up. No use pretending! He asked why she was still awake. Mikansia said she had gone through a lot that day, and was still trying to process it. What would happen when the dark elves figured out she wasn't the Yetekaida? Krakeru scoffed; nobody but him could channel the Nameless in the whole camp. Their lives were in his hands, not the other way around. Krakeru took a long, hard look at Mikansia. She asked him why he was looking at her liked that, and Krakeru told her that she looked a lot like Makirta, just then. Krakeru got up: time to go pee. Mikansia could hear him crunching through the snow as he left.

Mikansia snuck to the front of the tent. Jabez sat under the tree out front, asleep. Other elves were around, but were doing their own thing, ignoring Krakeru's tent as much as they could. Mikansia gently woke up Jabez. She tried to reach him, but there was something fundamentally different about him. Mikansia pulled out his sword and showed it to him and told him she'd been trying to get it back to him. Coldly, he told her to keep it.

Mikansia heard Krakeru coming back, so she snuck back into the tent, promising a nonplussed Jabez she would get him out of there. She lay down just in time. But it didn't matter; Krakeru asked her how the talk with Jabez.

Mikansia burst into tears.

Krakeru grabbed her by the chin, gently but firmly. He told her she was wasting her tears. Life was about pain. Either you were dealing it or receiving it. And Krakeru wanted Mikansia to be a dealer. Mikansia drew back, furious. She didn't have the dark soul Krakeru had, and she never would! What Krakeru and Makirta had done, all those years, was impossible for her to do. She thought they were disgusting and could never repeat their actions.

Krakeru caught her by the throat, eyes practically glowing with anger. Mikansia froze. Krakeru told her she was no better than he, and that he could prove it. Shoving her back by her throat, Krakeru told Mikansia to go behind the tent and wait. Mikansia asked why she would do that. Krakeru threatened to tell the entire camp about how he'd raped her, and therefore she was not Yetekaida. And then he'd stand back and watch as they tore her apart. Mikansia said he had to be bluffing, that he had just talked about burning down the whole world to give to her. Krakeru said calling the bluff was unwise.

Mikansia went behind the tent and waited. Krakeru's tent was on the edge of the camp, as no one really wanted anything to do with an elf of the Lone Keep, nevermind Krakeru. As she waited Mikansia could hear there was a commotion going in the camp: a dragon had been seen flying over them, and then flying in the direction of Elfwatch!

Krakeru brought Jabez, and told Mikansia to start walking. They walked about a half hour, into a clearing in the Iron Forest. Krakeru took the leash off of Jabez and produced one of the vials out his pocket. He told Mikansia that if she didn't drink it he'd cut Jabez's throat. Trembling, she unstopped the cork and downed it.

She felt giddy. Great.

And then she was uncontrollably aroused. So badly that she wanted Jabez and Krakeru to take her, right then and there. Krakeru grabbed her wrist; her whole body erupted with longing. Combined with the near-constant arousal she always felt around Krakeru... it was almost too much.

Krakeru pulled Mikansia over to Jabez (Yes, one step closer!) and told him to tell Mikansia what he had said about month into his life as a breeding stud for the dark elves.  Jabez paled taht; some of that familiar presence Mikansia knew returned. All the better if that helped him take her faster. Jabez pleaded with Krakeru. He didn't want to revisit this! But Krakeru insisted.  So Jabez, trembling, began to speak: he had loved Mikansia since the second he'd first met her.  It had hurt when when he'd sent Mikansia away (thanks for not telling him that Krakeru was her father, by the way!) and it had hurt when the king had banished him for aiding desertion, but Jabez had stood by those decisions. But these last two months? Being raped by every female dark elf, finally giving his consent and having so many children condemned to a life of evil because of his own cowardice?

Mikansia was not worth any of that.

The pain was so great, was so awful, that Jabez had told Krakeru that he had been wanting to hurt and defile Mikansia in the way he had been, to spread the pain around. He wanted her to say yes, to hold the consequences of hurting him for decades and decades to come.

Mikansia threw herself at him. She'd heard every word he'd said. And it had only gotten her more worked up. She was so ready. He knocked her onto the snow. She helped him take her pants off, fingers trembling.

And then the whole earth shook. Krakeru jumped. The whole dark elf camp was afire, with a dark and profane light. Above them roared a raging hurricane, the dragon.

Mikansia couldn't let this happen. She had her head back, if only for a moment. Jabez was still atop her. She pleaded with him, not like this! He looked confused, shocked by the explosion and Mikansia's change of attitude.

And then his eyes were right.

Jabez stood up.

So did Mikansia.

Jabez grabbed his sword. He told Mikansia to run. She balked. Krakeru laughed. But Jabez insisted; he was a dead man, regardless, because even if he defeated Krakeru the drug's withdrawals would certainly kill him. And Jabez desperately wanted to die on his own two feet. But Mikansia would not move.

A hurricane blast knocked them all over. The dragon was landing in the clearing! Off jumped Akseli and Yngvar. The roar of the Nameless knocked them all over, even cowing the dragon. Krakeru walked foward, still channeling the Nameless. With one smooth motion he gutted Jabez, who had managed to stand up, in front of Mikansia. Krakeru had already turned to to Akseli and Yngvar, who could not get up.

No.

Not this time.

Mikansia began the Song of the Sword, a low and angry hymn that undercut the roar of the Nameless coming out of Krakeru. She caught Jabez's sword as it fell and drove forward into Krakeru. He gasped, dropping his sword. He teetered onto Mikansia and grabbed the back of her head, pulling her close. Looking into her eyes, Krakeru said he didn't...

He became heavy all of a sudden. He fell backwards. Mikansia didn't catch him. She stood above Krakeru, staring at him as the life bled out of his stomach.

Someone's hands were on her bare waist. She threw him over her shoulder. It was Akseli. He had a blanket in his hands. They all laughed. She pulled him up, and then got her pants back on. And then Akseli and Yngvar were holding her. She relaxed.

"Um, I'm up here. Can we go now?"

Sitting atop the dragon's head was an elf. She waved "I'm Nomi. I know a lot of dark elves in that camp who I personally want to kill. Want to come?" Mikansia laughed and nodded. Nomi told her that Tyce told her hello. Mikansia beamed at that.

Yngvar helped Mikansia get Jabez's corpse atop the dragon; she kissed his forehead. She walked back to Krakeru's body and crushed the remaining vials he had on him.

Climbing back aboard the dragon, she held Jabez's body as they flew away.

Krakeru's body was left there, all alone.

The Giggling Dark: Session Twenty-Five

Xellous: the main character, a fifteen year old human played by Ryan. He's a genius enchanter and a celestial knight. He was a knight of the realm of Broadnough, but with the death of King Varlur and the traitorous Komas there's really no one to hold him to that vow anymore. He and his amnesiac wife Kora had decided they were going to go back to see Threen, Kora's mother.

Telos: a hero from another planet, another time. He had contacted some elves to help them get to another planet with a nuclear reactor, which they were going to use to give the star Ikuinen Lampo practically unlimited power. The elves had left to do some scouting of the planet in question, promising to return shortly.

Ikuinen Lampo: the star of Khouria. She had sacrificed her life decades ago to sanctify the ground, so that way people who died upon it didn't return as undead. She currently has possessed the body of Genevieve, Xellous's dead sister, so she could travel with him. Oh, apparently she's in love with him? 

Khen-Zai: a race of genetically altered aliens, who had left the solar system thousands of years ago to fight the Nameless, eldritch horrors that wanted the death of everything. Now they've come back, and want their planets back from their former slaves. 

I would just like to take a minute to acknowledge that this campaign has gotten really weird. 

The elves did not show up when promised. Telos was concerned by that. But, try as he might, nobody responded to his beacons. The soldiers who had been sent out to get Threen had come back, in the wake of King Varlur's and Komas's deaths. In the absence of a clear successor to the throne fighting had broken out in Broadnough.  This made Kora want to leave even more! Broadnough was falling apart and she wanted to get Gerard out of the city. Xellous didn't necessarily want to leave. Broadnough was locked in conflict and he wanted to help. But Kora was adamant; Ernzen was here, he was already working at stopping the conflict, and it was unsafe for Gerard, which Kora was not going to bend on. Reluctantly, Xellous agreed.

Telos grabbed a gigantic cart right off the street, in the middle of a battle. They brought along the khen-zai cadaver that Xellous had brought from Khouria in the first place. Xellous set up a rolling lab of sorts, in the back of the cart, so he could modify his bracers. But first, he made a potion that enhanced bow accuracy and gave it to Kora, for a rainy day; she had begun to retrain herself with the bow so that way she could effectively wield Pyra.

It took one month to travel from Broadnough to Khouria. During that time, Xellous further worked his bracers, making the bearer immune to fire and also set targets touched on fire, if the bearer so wished. Ikuinen Lampo lent what little energy she had left, and Kora ran some menial tasks so Xellous could concentrate better on his work. Immensely proud of his twenty-two days of labor, he called the braces Vulcan.

With eight days left in the trip Xellous took his mind to enchanting some armor for Telos... and then Telos shouted that they needed to come out, and quickly. There was a man walking around, aimlessly. As Xellous approached him the man looked up and smiled "Hi, I'm Charles" he said. Xellous tried to question him, but the man reiterated that he, indeed, was Charles. Telos went pale; only the Nameless could have done that to someone. Humans were particularly vulnerable to the Nameless, getting "hulled" of themselves in a matter of weeks from hearing their "Music". Even humans that had blocked up their ears experienced the problem. Ikuinen Lampo said that the Nameless didn't have auras and stars could not see them because of it. In fact, no creature could withstand the Nameless on a constant basis.

Kora began to have a panic attack, looking at Charles.  She threw up. Charles screamed. Kora asked if that's what had happened to her. Xellous guessed that might have been so? But he knew nothing about about what had happened to Kora after she ahd been kidnapped, nothing at all! But they were going to find out. 

Kora asked how the khen-zai managed to fight a constant war with the Nameless and hadn't been wiped out as a race. Xellous went and looked the cadaver they had, to see how the khen-zai managed it. The khen-zai had engineered a special organ... or was it three?? This seemed to allow them to pull their aura into an insulated area in their brain. Doing this and then putting the immobile body into one of their mechs would allow the khen-zai to survive for months at a time before needing to get away. But however they did it? How they engineered this? Xellous would need more time to figure that out.

Charles had wandered off by this point.

The next day they met five more people claiming to be Charles. Two of them were little girls.

They saw three more the next day.

The day after that they found the crashed elven ship. It was smashed to bits and there was a lot of blood, but no bodies.... or supplies, for that matter. There were tracks (and blood) leading away from the crash. Xellous and Kora found a shallow grave a bit further on. As they headed back Kora asked why they bothered going. The Nameless were clearly around and one sound from them would wipe Kora, Xellous, and Telos clean. How on earth could they contend with that? Xellous  said they needed to know what had happened to Threen. And clearly the Nameless weren't everywhere, not yet, and didn't Threen deserve they take that chance?

Xellous all of a sudden felt a malevolence behind them. Kora turned and screamed, but was quickly calmed by Xellous. Before them stood a black khen-zai, who introduced himself as Thought 7-of-10. He wanted to talk with Xellous.

Hallucinations: Session One

Karel: A barbarian from the small mountain village of Preydiri, played by David. He's into gold and glory.

Zilya: An assassin who comes right from the town of Novstrech, which is where we're starting, played by Bryna.

Novstrech: A supposedly neutral city in the growing civil war between the Old Faith and the Faith of the Stars. Its neutrality is in question because of its proximity to Bohspat, the center of the Old Faith, which is a major military power in its own right. Earlier in the day a gigantic golden cube rose out of the ground, just outside the town. A low thrumming noise was emanating from the cube and was distress to the town.

At dusk Karel and Zilya made their move. Zilya took point, helping Karel sneak toward the Cube. But Zilya wanted to feel a rush, so she made Karel run right as a guard was looking, hoping they moved fast enough under the cover of shadow.

Zilya was wrong.

As Zilya and Karel heard the alarm being raised in the town they got to the Cube. The thrumming noise that had been causing so much consternation was louder here, potentially harmful even; fortunately Karl and Zilya were able to withstand it. They knew they needed to hurry, but couldn't find a door. Karel began touching around the Cube, trying to find a secret door. It was actual gold and quite smooth... exception for the slightest of indentations. Karel traced the doorway, and pushed.

The doors opened with a quiet whoosh, and they stepped inside, with another quiet whoosh behind them. Karel lit his lantern and held it up in his left hand. The whole room was gold: walls, floor, ceiling. In the corners to their right and left Zilya and Karel saw pedestals: white to their left and green to their right. A pair of orbs, green and white, lay nearby, covered in dust, cracked and chipped. In the center of the room was a glass tube, with a doorway cut into said tube.

Karel searched the room, Zilya next to him and lending a helping eye. On the other side of the room were two more pedestals and orbs, red and blue. Karel was looking for another secret door and was convinced there was one, but it was significantly harder to find than the one that let them in in the first place. By the time they did find one they were both so angry they could barely see straight. That door whooshed open, onto a small room. A series of small colored circles were on an area next to the doorway: red, blue, white, and green.

They walked back into the main room and looked over the orbs on the floor. They were safe to touch, about the size of a human skull. Zilya put the red orb on the red pedestal. The glass tube sealed its open doorway shut and the floor within it sank, leaving a hole. Zilya took the orb off the pedestal and the floor returned; the tube re-opened. All the other orbs were tried in their matching stands. Blue took longer for the platform to return, white and green also took longer than the previous one.

They decided that Karel, who was eager for gold and glory, should go down the tube and see the four sub-basements beneath them. Karel got in the tube and Zilya put the green orb on the green pedestal. She lit a torch as Karel went down in the elevator. She investigated the walls as he went down, scraping at the gold with some tools. Three inches of gold later revealed steel. Chuckling, Zilya began to scrape as much off the wall as she could, stashing it in her backpack.

Karel went to each sub-basement. The next floor down had red-tainted gold, and was more of a passage-way than a gigantic room, and had two enormous statues next to the tube he was in. They were equipped with gigantic mauls. They didn't respond as he coasted down.

The next floor down was plated in blue-tinted gold. It was filled with rotting furniture. One of the corners didn't have floor anymore; gaping blackness was all that Karel could see.

The white floor's walls were lined with glass tubes. There were also five ghouls, who jumped up and began to pound on the glass tube Karel was in. Karel knew that, by the time he came back up, they would have broken through the glass.

The bottom green floor had a broken glass tube. The stone platform Karel stood on continued on, even without the tube. There were billowing clouds on the ground, eerily green, and there was a funny smell in the air. Karel held his breath, and realized he was pretty thirsty.

Karel held his breath until he got back into the white room. The ghouls broke the glass tube on their level. Klaxons went off, causing Zilya to jump as she was stealing gold on to the top level. Karel threw the attacking ghouls off the platform as it rose to the next floor. The ghouls snarled but could not reach the platform.

The stone statues were swinging their mauls as Karel came back up into the red-tinted room. He hadn't noticed their clubs on the way down, what was that pattern on them?

Zilya heard the smashing of glass from below and called out to Karel. No answer. The platform came up empty. Could anyone hear anything over those klaxons?? Zilya ran to the small room she'd helped Karel to discover. Taking a shaking breath, trembling from being tired, she pressed the small red circle. The doors whooshed shut. The platform beneath her began to sink. A minute later the doors whooshed open. Two gigantic statues stood over Karel. He looked unhurt, albeit a bit winded. Karel demanded that Zilya get over to him and help! Zilya hid in an opposite corner, waiting, watching.

The statues approached Karel, declaring the intruder needed to be detained. Karel told them he'd been there before, and had just helped by clearing out the ghouls that were down below. The statues paused a moment, processing the response. Zilya saw that there was a control panel on the back of their enormous heads. Zilya took a stiletto out of her hair and threw it at one of the statues. She managed to toss it through the plate on its head and it shut down. the other statue turned around, and Karel pulled out a hammer out and chucked it at the back of its head. As it shut down it said "System compromised. Lockdown initiated."

The klaxons stopped.

Exhausted, Karel and Zilya sat down and made camp. Karel and Zilya gave each other shoulder rubs to help relax after everything. Zilya passed out immediately. Karel did not. He got up, grabbed a parchment and a quill, and began to sketch out a map of the floor they were on.  He found the walls could move on this floor; it looked to be  a storage floor, with various locked containers that he thought about having Zilya check in a bit. There were blue, green, and white pedestals, but a gigantic hole where the red pedestal had been. Karel looked down into a ghoul's glare. It couldn't get up to them.

Karel didn't really sleep well the rest of the night. Zilya slept like a rock.

It's Still On My Shelf: Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

What It Is: Beyond the Wall is a one-shot system designed to emulate coming of age tales in fantasy novels. There is no prep work required or desired. Everyone just sits down, grabs a booklet and starts rolling dice. The story should be over, in one session. I mean, it doesn't have to be, but the scope of the game is definitely not supposed to go beyond a single session.

What Makes It Awesome: It does exactly what it says it does, on the tin. So many games make vain promises about what they are and what they accomplish, all for nothing. Not this game. It is fast to set up, fast to play, and has some really freaking amazing tables. I normally don't jazz about tables and all that, but these tables are, to almost the last one, ridiculously awesome.  By the time you're done everyone will have characters, a town will be constructed, and the GM will have a dastardly plot linked into the PCs.

Problems: I do not mind games where there isn't a universal resolution mechanic. I don't play them, but that has more to do with the fact that the games I do play normally just happen to. But here? I take issue with it. BtW's lack of a universal resolution mechanic is the one huge sticking point I keep running into whenever I play this game with folks, particularly newbies. It's not huge, it's not a deal-breaker, but it is a pain. And it does get in the way while playing. It's a minute little piece of dirt in the ointment, but it is there.

Why I Haven't Been Playing It: Honestly? I don't know. Maybe I'm still chasing that huge epic campaign that will define everything, for all time. Mechanically the actual play isn't my cup of tea, despite how fun it is, but given how good the stories are that come out I can forgive that pretty quickly. I guess I'm just not at a point where I want a constantly revolving series of towns and characters and situations?

Yes, I know there's a campaign supplement, Further Afield.

Yup, I own it.

Too large of a scope for the base game, to be blunt.

I see absolutely no point in running this game as a campaign, not when things like Burning Wheel exist. So no, that part just loses out.

Hulk: Session Zero

Shmitty and I had started a Marvel Universe game... that had fizzled out. He was never available when I was, vice versa, and we kinda burned out after two sessions, where Hulk wound up working for S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically with Doc Samson. That and, while we enjoyed the engine, we wanted something a bit more character oriented. Oh, and I was working on that, here, and Shmitty was excited enough to give it another try.

The house rules I added in should make a tragic arc, where the characters are trying to retain their humanity in the face of their epic abilities. They should frequently fail to do so. The system should have the tragedy inherent to Spider-Man and the X-Men: the people who try so hard to live up to their ideals, but are forced to heed the call to be a hero, instead. Shmitty liked the idea, so he wrote Ideals about trying to inspire others through friendship and controlling the monster within.

Yeah, that'll be hilariously awful to play out.

The plot idea is that Banner, working for SHIELD, is a consultant on gamma radiation mutates. He goes from site to site, trying to help people who are exposed to large amounts of radiation. He wants to make friends with these people, to help them survive the thing that he did, to help them be more than they currently are. We'll see how it all shakes out, but we're both excited!

The first session is going to be about a little girl named Amanda, who had been found on the testing site that Hulk was born. She has massive radiation poisoning. Bruce has been sent to help move her, given his own gamma radiation nature....

The Undertow: Session Nine

Mikansia: the main character, a female elf played by Lena. Last session she was called the Yetekaida, which is sort of the dark elf messiah. Had the dark elves known she was the Yetekaida they never would have besieged the fort in the first place. Obviously this is a bit of a problem.

Yngvar: Mikansia's firstsword. Yngvar had been treating Mikansia unfairly because of the actions of her mother, Makirta, who had been a dark elf spy. He has now turned around from the events of last session, where Mikansia single-handedly embarrassed everyone in her group.

Akseli: Mikansia's commander. He had been in love with her mother, Makirta, and had rejected her when she had revealed herself to him in an effort to make the relationship they had more honest. Shortly thereafter he had been critically wounded by the Nameless and spent the better part of two decades recovering from said wound.

Krakeru: Mikansia's father. He works for a sect of dark elves called The Lone Keep, who are all about letting the eldritch horrors known as the Nameless onto the planet. When Mikansia first met him she asked to be taught about the Nameless. Krakeru's response was to rape his daughter and then channel the discordant song of the Nameless inside of Fort Elfwatch, causing the humans within it to start forgetting who they were. Krakeru promised he'd see Mikansia again and left her in the fort to stew in the gathering insanity.

Makirta: Mikansia's mother, a former dark elf spy for the Lone Keep. After being rejected by Akseli she had willingly conceived Mikansia with Krakeru, ran away from him, gave birth to Mikansia, and then left for the Void of Space, where the hearts of all grief-broken elves are said to be eventually mended. Mikansia hasn't quite forgiven Makirta for it.

When the three men with Mikansia and Yngvar, Arthur, Gabriel, and Victor, saw the dark elves paying deference to Mikansia and calling her Yetekaida, they began to panic. They said it all made sense, and accused Mikansia of the most vile sexual things she could have possibly done with them. They swore up and down she had down these things. Yngvar looked over at Mikansia, saw her utter disgust, and stopped, taking a deep breath. Yngvar sucker punched Gabriel. The others backed off, as Yngvar began to scream at them for their idiocy. Mikansia had volunteered to go on this mission, had worked tirelessly to help the humans, and no elf would have done what these vile humans were saying she had done. Mikansia added in her disgust for the cowardice and lying that had been perpetrated against her. 

Victor apologized, as the other two stared at the ground in shame. Victor admitted he had been lying about Mikansia, behind her back, this whole time. He wasn't OK with what had done. Mikansia nodded. Besides, Victor said with a grimace, he'd never have done those things himself, to any woman. And that made Mikansia laugh: she wouldn't have done those things either!

The dark elves are looking at Mikansia with a lot of confusion. Why would she show mercy to these humans? She was Yetekaida, she should be killing humans! Yngvar told them to shut up, because they really needed to be killed, and Yngvar did not need much of an excuse to do so. Arthur was appalled; they'd just been talking about a lack of honor in the humans, but Yngvar was willing to kill prisoners in cold blood? Another dark elf spoke up, saying no dark elf would afford them any mercy either. Yngvar slit his throat with one smooth sword swing. He told the others to shut up if they wanted to live. Yngvar told hte humans they hadn't thought the logistics through: they couldn't lug their prisoners through the line, back to to Fort Elfwatch. Nor could they take the dark elves with them on their expedition to Fort Priesdefair. Their compatriots had a head start; they could catch catch up, but with prisoners? And what, were they seriously considering letting the dark elves go?? That was trust insanity. They'd report Mikansia's existence.

Mikansia asked if that was a bad thing.

Yngvar snapped that Mikansia could not be serious. she was not going to turn herself in to the dark elves. Mikansia said they really didn't have that much of a choice. She refused to to let everyone at Fort Elfwatch suffer needlessly on her account, not when she could save them. Yngvar gave a direct order to forbid it. Doing that would break Akseli, all over again. It had taken Akseli ten years after facing the Nameless to remember his own name. The next thing he said, right after remembering his own name, was Makirta's. Finding out that Mikansia had been taken by dark elves would drive Akseli crazy. Yngvar couldn't watch that, not again. Mikansia asked if Akseli would really want a whole fort to fall because of his feelings, a fort that he just so happened to be in, to boot! If Mikansia went Akseli woud live to fight another day, as would everyone else. Yngvar remarked that was something Akseli would say. And it would have been something Akseli would do. Yngvar choked on those words. Victor, Gabriel, and Arthur said they'd come with them. The dark elves allowed themselves to remain tied as they went to see their compatriots.

As they walked Yngvar put his arm around Mikansia. She leaned into his chest, snuggling into him as they walked. Yngvar began to sing a lament, one Mikansia had never heard. She realized it was Yngvar's own composition. Yngvar sang of loves lost, soldiers killed, friends driven insane, and yet time moved on. Yngvar remembered it all, treasured it all, still. Still. Mikansia wept.

A cold laugh came from behind them. A dark elf strode up, out of the darkness. A ring of elves appeared. The dark elf said he'd heard nonsense and stupidity and felt an overwhelming desire to punish it. He took one look at Mikansia and he stopped laughing. "Yetekaida", he breathed. The other elves knelt before Mikansia, taking up the refrain. The elf who stepped up apologized to her: he thought she was another myth, chattered about by the likes of Krakeru.

"Oh, she's real alright", said a familiar voice.

Out stepped Krakeru

He looked pissed.

Everyone else backed up.

Mikansia froze.

Krakeru saw Yngvar and Mikansia, and his expression abruptly changed. Krakeru walked up to Yngvar, calling him "Utesl", and asked, jovially, if Yngvar remembered what he had told Krakeru when "Utesl" had gutted him during their last encounter. Pale, Yngvar said he did remember Krakeru told him that he shouldn't be surprised then, as a knife flashed in the moonlight.

Mikansia's sword rang in response.

Three dark elf arrows whizzed by her. she didn't blink. Her sword sent Krakeru's arm back from the force of her block. Krakeru chuckled: such fire in his daughter! Mikansia demanded everyone that came with her be let go. Krakeru asked why she thought she had any bargaining power. She was surrounded! Krakeru had all the power here. And, on top of it, Mikansia was traveling with humans! Humans! His sword moved so fast, so fine, that the cut didn't show up on Arthur's throat for a second. Same thing with Gabriel. By the time he was moving against Victor Mikansia had a knife against her own throat.  If they wanted Mikansia alive then Krakeru needed to stop. He looked at her with admiration.

Krakeru grabbed Yngvar and told told him that, after Akseli had rejected Makirta, she had come crawling back to him, to be accepted back into the fold. That was why Mikansia existed, now. Yngvar fell over. Krakeru told Yngvar he had won with Makirta, and here was Mikansia, returned to him as well! Krakeru always won. And, one day, Krakeru would take "Utesl's" miserable life. But not today. Today, Krakeru would settle for humiliation. Yngvar's clothes were removed. He was sent running with Victor. Yngvar promised he would come back for Mikansia. No matter how long it took, Yngvar would return for her.

Krakeru made Mikansia walk beside her. In a low voice, so low that no other elf could hear, he told Mikansia to ask as many questions as she liked as she liked. With a dark chuckle he promised that Mikansia was not the Yetekaida. Mikansia asked what the Yetekaida was, and why she wasn't it. Krakeru told her the Yetekaida had to bred, from generations of inbreeding, torture, rape, and every form of horror imaginable. Mikansia asked, and Krakeru confirmed: he was Makirta's elder brother. He had been spared death as a baby so that, if the girl of that generation wasn't the Yetekaida, she could be conditioned into being the mother of the next possible Yetekaida. And how Makirta had resisted! She never saw the Nameless how Krakeru had, and could never. For years she ahd resisted the systemic rape and torture Krakeru had been forced (at least at first) to inflict upon her, including killing their first eight children, all boys, in front of her. 

Everything after baby number three had been easy for Krakeru. 

The Yetekaida also needed to be a virgin which, given the amount of horrors she would inherit, would be easy to endure. Mikansia considered her years of isolation, traveling the Ring of Tears, winced. Most of all, however, the Yetekaida could not have experienced the Nameless in any capacity before the hulling, when the Nameless would scoop her out of her own body and eternally use it as their instrument. And, since Mikansia could now here them, constantly - Mikansia interjected that she couldn't hear them constantly, just at certain points. 

Krakeru looked surprised and enraged for just one second, and told her that the discordant one off notes heard from people who were fully experiencing the Music was not enough for what he had in mind. 

But that was OK. 

Makirta broke down eventually, too. 

So would Mikansia.

Mikansia wanted to know what Krakeru wanted, if she was no could not be the Yetekaida. Laughing, he told her there were other ways to serve the Nameless. Besides, Krakeru had a new goal: burning the world down so Mikansia could rule it after he was gone.

Dedicated to Audrey, which is always how she wanted me to know her. 

I get you now. 

I understand. 

Took me 25 years to do it, but I did it.

I do not approve, but I do understand. And, somehow, this story of darkness and pain has helped me forgive you, even if just a little bit more. I hope I can tell you that someday, with a heart wiped clean from resentments and hatred. 

Until then, be at peace.

May the Power Protect You: Aisha Campbell (MMPR Yellow)

I'm not sure why, but I found Aisha's differences from Trini particularly pronounced. She's a killer, through and through, bringing back energy almost as fast as she spends it. But you have to wait for others to set you up, which sometimes means you're having to play against the obvious style to keep the group going. Hang back, take some hits, wait, and then hit hard.

Soft advantages (read: not damage or healing or re-rolls) are usually a harder pitch for people. There's a reason why I recommend MMPR Pink (Kimberly or Kat) as a starting character for players: they're easy to understand, while being highly effective. The effects of damage are obvious and satisfying. I'm not denigrating people who keep playing those types of characters, because I'm definitely one of them, but some abilities are a little tougher to gauge. Aisha's ability to get an energy back by killing someone is easy to conflate with the soon-to-be-released Rocky's moves, but do not be fooled. Aisha is all about waiting to pounce, getting the kill, and moving on. Aisha doesn't need to intensely set up her ability, she need only wait. That makes her a sharp swiss-army knife.

With Aisha waiting around to hit it's a good idea to use Tenacity with her. Because Tenacity lets you shuffle cards back into your deck, no matter the shieldage, it means that Aisha can actively heal herself, while giving energy to the party. Don't get hung up on using a turn; MMPR yellow is the only character who can actively heal herself (so far) and that means that you can use less actions outside of combat, making Aisha ideal for running around and starting fights when others can't, because they had to recover. 

Sabretooth Strike looks nice, right? Right? Don't be fooled. It costs an energy and is only two dice. It's not a for sure thing. Go for Precision Strike instead if you don't have a for-sure way of ensuring the KO.  It's two for-sure damage and it doesn't cost you an energy. Only use Sabretooth Strike when someone else can help pile up the damage on the first hit, thus ensuring that the second hit comes out. But, unless you're sure that you can knock the dude out with Sabretooth Strike, use Precision Strike instead.

Aisha plays a bit of a different role than expected. She's a tank and a finisher. If you need someone to be taking the hits and making sure that the killing job gets done then she's perfect for the job. She can do a lot of burst damage, giving her the ability to turn the fight in your favor in seemingly impossible situations. And she helps keep your energy economy flowing while she does it! What's not to love?

Sabina's Castle: Session Twenty-Four, Trait Vote the Last With Musings

Andy and I convened, to talk about the game and the story and to do a trait vote. We were both very happy with this campaign and how it had gone. We were both surprised at how thematically coherent it had been, and I think it's the first time Andy had been part of a game I had actually run halfway decently? 

At any rate, these were the traits Anneli had:

Call of the Stars (Char)

Wrath of the Fallen (Char)

MW to the Head (DT)

Slightly Clumsy (DT)

Shaky Hands (DT)

Haunted (DT)

Driven (C-O)

We nixed Call of the Stars (the common Elven trait in my setting) and Wrath of the Fallen (elves who get stranded on the planet sometimes develop this trait). Neither of these things really applied to Anneli anymore, who was now unlike most elves by a good margin. Wrath of the Fallen, which Andy had invoked for a couple of times Anneli had acted a bit strangely, also didn't really apply, because she no longer felt the urge to sail among the stars.

But she does feel the pull of the Island, now. 

And so we changed Call of the Stars to Call of the Island.

For Wrath of the Fallen we just flat out removed it. Anneli had found a peace in the last session that just didn't fit with Wrath of the Fallen anymore. She's moved on from feeling stranded; she is on a journey. She's not only not stuck but she doesn't have the basic drive to do something that she can't do anymore: return to the sky.

We then thought about Anneli's ending speech about the ends not justifying the means, and how she had stuck to her principles to a degree that Spar had not, as well as most people in general. We settled upon the trait Righteous from the core book to describe what she had become, for better and for worse. She's become a person who will not tolerate evil, to a degree that others would find both very helpful and not. Not quite inflexible, but determined to only let the light in, and nothing else.

We then talked reputations. Andy had come up with an awesome reputation name for what Anneli had done, Starlight Rebel, but he only wanted it to be at 2D. I pushed back and said it was definitely a 3D reputation. Anneli had deposed the head of a major army and then told all the remaining major officers not only that she had done it, but why she had done it, and then she walked away from it. That was going to spread, and fast! 

So this is what Anneli's traits and Reputations look like:

Call of the Island (Char)
Righteous (Char)

MW to the Head (DT)

Slightly Clumsy (DT)

Shaky Hands (DT)

Haunted (DT)

Driven (C-O)

Starlight Rebel 3D

As far as my own recollections from this campaign, I've got to say that I grew a lot from it, both personally and technically. Unlike most games I didn't really start with a strong vision of what I wanted to communicate. I didn't really even know where the campaign was going. Most of the time when I try to think about that sort of thing I have a pretty good idea of what it is I want to do, but that was simply not the case here. Most sessions I'd come in without even the faintest clue of what I wanted to do, so we just made it up, then and there, and Andy started to push for it as hard as possible, with me following along and trying to figure out what I was doing. 

This game was a real challenge. But it was a crucible, which formed me and strengthened some parts of my GMing where I'm definitely weak. It has changed my approach to games where I do know where I want to say, where I walk in with my big ideas and metaphysical statements, which I've been ruminating for weeks at a time. I now throw it all out the window when session time comes, because something needs to get done, right there in that situation, and the big ideas will come in when its time. And not one freaking second before. The lessons learned from this game have transformed how I approached The Giggling Dark and The Undertow. What I learned from this game informed the formation of Hallucinations and I can't wait for my players to see the difference and to post about them here. 

This was also the first GM'd game in about seven years that I got to end on my terms. The Army made it impossible to schedule practically anything. Not to mention the fact that I kept trying to play with more than... one or two people. We're getting older. We have responsibilities. And that alone makes running games with a group practically impossible. So this has been a long time coming. I'm really thankful that I got to run this game with Andy, my best man, who has consistently put up with all sorts of nonsense from me and usually seems unflappable by even the biggest GMing gaffes. 

And, whoever you are that is currently reading this, I am grateful you chose to do so. Thanks for looking in, whoever you are. This game was a lot of fun and meant a lot to Andy and I. Hopefully these reports meant something to you, as well.

Hallucinations: Session Zero

The world was a mess. Star liches, undead stars, had fallen to the earth and defiled it. The dead rose. The living were subjugated. Some blamed it on their own sins and petitioned the gods, the Lords of Light and Darkness, for relief. Others blamed those who lived atop The Red Giants, who none had seen. And others killed themselves deliberately, so they could be part of the new world order. 

And then the living stars, beautiful beyond compare, crashed into the planet, and sacrificed themselves, spilling their ichor and flame into the desecrated earth. The star-liches' power was no match for the inherent goodness of this sacrifice. The living heralded them as the answer to their prayers from the gods. The dead screamed as they disintegrated.

A new kingdom, Mamye, was founded. It was not very large and it hugged the coast, but it was home. Those to the north, in the Yuzney Zuby Mountains, refused to comply. The mountains were too cold for anyone from Mamye to care. There were rumors of creatures calling themselves the shuyao and vinteralva even farther north, but even the barbarians who refused to join with Mamye knew very little of them. 

Things began to fall apart for Mamye. A question of religious orthodoxy (Were the stars themselves the gods? Were they to be worshipped? Were the Lords of Light and Dark even real?) was hijacked by the schemes of politicians, and two cities were founded to represent this broach: Bohspat, who worshiped the old gods (originally sponsored by the crossroads city Novstrech), and Yakravat (sponsored by the port town Krasay Dok), who worshipped the stars directly. Founded upon the Pairvents and Tretiy rivers, these two economic and religious bastions have effectively ousted the capital Rabayda from its position as the most important city in the realm of Mamye.

But Karel Ladislas, from the mountainous barbarian town of Preydiri, and Zilya, hailing from Novstrech, didn't really care about any of that. Karel had come south because he had heard of Mamye's riches and the glory that could be gained from them, and Zilya only kept saying that she wanted money, fast. They had met up at Aloysius's Plate, one of the inns of Novstrech. They discussed breaking into one of the forgotten structures of old and looting it for all it was worth. Karel was excited! Glory was to be had! But Zilya was watching this strange newcomer with apprehension. She was desperate, so she went along with it. But did that mean she could trust Karel?

And then the earth quaked and shook. 

A few miles outside of Novstrech rose a gigantic cubic structure, shining golden in the sunlight. A low hum emitted from it. It was actively distressful for the Novstrans. The members of the old and new faiths resolved to go into the golden cube and stop the noise. Glory and political gain was at stake!

But Karel and Zilya? They wanted to know if that cube was solid gold or not.

Burning Empires is Back on My Shelf

This is a story of love, struggle, and insanity. I should not have this book back on my shelf. Like, all logical and rational thought forbids it. But here we are. This is the craziest game I own, by just such a wide margin. But it's back. It ain't going nowhere.

The instant I saw the cover I fell in love. I know it's probably not obvious as to why, but just bear with me. The back cover is the same people all hurting each other and being hulled out by the worm. By just looking at the cover I knew everything I needed to know about the game: love, betrayal, sci-fi, and giant space frogs. And who couldn't have more space frogs?

There's a correct answer to that question. No, it was not rhetorical.

And then I played an actual game. It was a short campaign, just six sessions of actual play, but it was one of the most intense things I've ever played. And yeah, we completely screwed it up, multiple times over. And yes, the game is incredibly clunky. But it was just an amazing experience: the confluence of Burning Wheel's intense character development and the clashing of two different worlds, human and vaylen, made for a madhouse of the game. I adored it.

And then I didn't run it for the next seven years.

Now, in my defense, I joined the Army, deployed, and then left in five of those years. I could barely run a game because of the schedule, period. I guess I just kinda gave up on the idea of ever having the emotional energy to get a game together. And then all of a sudden I had two Burning Wheel games, soon to be three, and I just.. I don't know. I didn't think I could get another game running.

So I sold it.

Months went by, and I just couldn't get Burning Empires out of my head. I wanted the adrenaline rush again, of running a game of that scope. I never said it was a sane desire, but I couldn't... get it out of my head. One day I found myself returning back to the Half-Price Books I had sold it to, to find that the book was still there. 

So I re-bought it. Y'know, cause that's the sane thing to do.

I'm going to try to get my boardgaming group to try this game out. It's the most unique thing I've ever played, for better and for worse. Even if I can't, this game is some sort of a guiding light in my collection. It is everything that I want a story to be like: the personal and the epic, entwined together to where the two are one.

The Undertow: Session Eight

Mikansia: the main character, a female elf played by Lena. Last session the General had made plans for a last-ditch effort to get reinforcements. Mikansia had volunteered, but her commander, Akseli, had forbidden it. It was finally revealed that Mikansia's mother, Makirta, had been a dark elf, who had tricked Akseli. When he found out she had lied to him Akseli had abandoned her. She finally convinced Akseli and Yngvar to let her go on the mission.

Yngvar: Mikansia's firstsword. She had convinced him that she needed to be judged on her own merits, not on Makirta's, who had apparently tried to seduce him at one point. He's coming along on the mission on a misguided mistrust of her that he just couldn't shake.

The Lone Keep: A particularly vile cult of dark elves, dedicated to the Nameless, eldritch horrors from the beyond. Krakeru, Mikansia's evil father, is a member of this cult.

At dawn, twenty soldiers made a break for the southern dark elf battlement from Fort Elfwatch. Tyce was right; it was less guarded, but that didn't mean it was totally unguarded. Twenty was all the General could spare, four of them accomplished navigators. One of them, Elaine, was a prostitute who had taught herself orienteering to take her mind off her job. 

Ten died in the charge out of the fort, two of them navigators. Thirty of the dark elves gave chase. Elaine lagged behind. Mikansia dropped back. Only Yngvar noticed what she was doing, so he dropped back with her. Mikansia called out to one of the men, trying to get them to help Elaine, but they didn't stop. So Mikansia picked up the malnourished Elaine and booked it, being pushed along and encouraged by Yngvar. 

Somehow she outran the dark elves. when they all stopped running Yngvar said, sheepishly, that he would have happily have carried Elaine, if only Mikansia had asked. Mikansia chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, and told him she had it covered. Elaine joked that her ribs begged to differ. Yngvar looked at her a bit differently after that. Everyone began to began to discuss what they needed to do next. A few options were bandied about, from a last stand, in the hopes of killing them all before moving on, to hiding until the dark elves gave up.But the one everyone agreed to was five staying back to be a distraction, while the navigators were spirited away to Fort Priesdefair, where there were human reinforcements... five days away. It was a long shot but it was all they had. Yngvar and Mikansia volunteered, without hesitation.

They went a bit up the road they had been on, and buried themselves beneath the snow near the road. Ten dark elves came down the road. They were completely blindsided. Five dark elves died in the initial rush. the other five turned around and Mikansia squared up with one, sword and shield in hand. When Mikansia's opponent saw her he froze and said, in awe, "Yetekaida". Mikansia was a whirlwind of steel, stabbing the dark elf in the leg, defeating him in one hit. Two of the other dark elves were killed outright. They rest were captured as they gaped at Mikansia: "Yetekaida" they all said, one after another. Mikansia took out her knife and the others helped get the truth out: the dark elves didn't really care about the reinforcements, not really. They didn't want the reinforcements to come, but not because they were worried about the siege. The humans within would have been wiped clean by the time anyone could get back. But had they known that Yetekaida had been there, they would have stopped attacking. The Lone Keep was hers, after all.

Yngvar went pale. Mikansia took him aside and questioned him. Yngvar told her the Lone Keep expected a dark messiah of sorts, someone would be the chosen of the Nameless, who would help return the Ring of Tears back to the world, away from the Nameless.

But why the hell would Mikansia be "Yetekaida"?

Sabina's Castle: Session Twenty-Three

Anneli: the main character, a female elf played by Andy. She managed to get her hands on a Dagger of Betrayal, a foul piece of dark technology and sorcery made by the khen-zai, only to find out that her friend Aloysius had plans to use it for dark purposes. She and her friends Fingar and Thungal flat out refused to give Aloysius the Dagger. He's called in his soldiers to take it by force.

Herminus: in a former life he was the head of security of Sabina's Castle. A lovable buffoon, Herminus had helped Spar on many adventures... until Spar died. And Argentum Prime, the city they lived in, had been ravaged by a mysterious dragon. Herminus died, but came back as a revenant, a creature of shadow and vengeance, to kill Salt, Spar's daughter, who Herminus blamed for his death. He wants the Dagger of Betrayal to control the dragon.

The Dragon: a certain Dwarf, who had been a part of the cult of the Leviathan. Assigned to Spar as a handler, the Dwarf had given Spar a Dagger of Betrayal and tried to pressure him into using it. When Spar had died trying to follow his directive, the Dwarf had tried to use the Dagger on its intended target. But a Dagger of Betrayal only really works when you use it on someone you're close enough to actually betray. The darkness in the Dagger bounced back on the Dwarf, and he turned into a horrific dragon, which destroyed the city of Argentum Prime in its birth-throes.

As Anneli looked at the soldiers on the other end of the pikes she realized they were looking at Herminus with disgust. Gambling, she asked if this was really what they wanted to support. All the soldiers flinched at that. Anneli pulled out the Dagger of Betrayal again, saying that Aloysius was trying to use dark magic to bring back their empire. Was this really what they wanted, really and truly? Aloysius commanded them to stand firm. Anneli pointed at Herminus and said this was the empire that Aloysius wanted to build. Their oaths to the empire did not mean loyalty to Aloysius, who would build something none of them actually wanted. Their oaths did not mean loyalty to Aloysius. Fingar, whom the men respected, told them that things were always darkest before the dawn, but that letting Herminus use the depraved Dagger of Betrayal would only let the darkness be permanent. Thungal, also highly respected, begged them not to give into Aloyius's plans, but to hope for something better than he could give. Aloysius commanded them to hold fast to their oaths, which made him their commander; holding to their oaths meant holding to him.

Aloysius reminded his men of all he had done for them, so that the glory of the empire would not fail. All their training, all their effort, everything they'd all experienced together, bound the men to him, specifically. Anneli said that was all well and good, but what he wanted to do with the Dagger changed all that. Aloysius wasn't acting in the best interests of his men and the empire by toying with that darkness. That was darkly hilarious to Anneli, given that Aloysius couldn't stop talking about the light and glory of the empire. Aloysius insisted that that glory was best reflected in his soldiers, and insisted that Anneli was threatening his men and the glory they had. Anneli snapped that glory was directly endangered by toying with forces far too great and terrible for them, and that everything he was talking about would be invalidated by using the Dagger.

The soldiers formed up around Anneli, Fingar, and Thungal, against Herminus and Aloysius.

Anneli put the Dagger back into its cloth. She told Aloysius and Herminus they were free to go. Herminus promised her she hadn't seen the last of him. They were escorted out by the soldiers. Anneli asked Fingar, Thungal, and one of the soldiers who stayed behind to grab all the commanding officers and bring them to her.

When they were all present in the commanding room Anneli informed them  Aloysius had been relieved of duty, because he had tried to use a Dagger of Betrayal, which she produced. A lot of the officers flinched and murmured, but not enough of them to make Anneli comfortable. She explained she did not want an army, that the fate of their army was theirs to figure out, but that she had her own mission to carry out and that Aloysius and his like could not win their hearts and minds. The Argentum Empire would be rebuilt, the right way, without using dark and profane powers. Some of the ones who were loyal to Aloysius calmed, but not all of them.

It was up to them now. She had to trust they would make the right call.

Two men came running up to Anneli as she walked away: Brutus and Remus, the former head cook of Sabina's Castle. They wanted to go with her, wherever that was. Anneli told them in a low voice about the Island of Eternal Youth; she had no idea how wish-making worked, so if they wanted a wish she'd no idea if they would get it. They said it mattered little; they needed to try. They then met up with Fingar and Thungal. Thungal teased Anneli about taking on humans. Chuckling, Anneli told her she was getting used to them. Thungal agreed.

They left the fort, heading east, towards the coast. Marian caught up with them. She said she'd ambushed Herminus and turned him into ash, but not before getting the whole story out of them. She congratulated Anneli on how far she'd come. With tears in her eyes Marian thanked Anneli for sailing. She had one request: the Dagger. The Argentum Empire would be better off without the dragon and Herminus had divulged how to control the dragon using the Dagger. Besides, someone actually needed to help the dragon redeem itself, and that would be impossible without the Dagger.

Anneli unwrapped the Dagger and pressed it into Marian's hands, telling her that if anyone could handle the power and evil of the Dagger it was her. Marian's hand twitched in revulsion as she touched the Dagger. she whispered "Oh Thomas, how I wish to be with you again", so softly she didn't think Anneli could hear it.

But she did.

Anneli asked Marian to take care of Nomi. Marian promised she would do so. And she thanked Anneli for sailing, Once she did so Marian would be free to move on; Anneli would never see Marian in this life, ever again. Anneli bowed. Marian chuckled at the formality of elves and gave her a big hug.

It was time to go.