Impact!: Session Three

Folks, what the hell is going on with this game?? I knew I was going into something new, by handling orcs and doing a new race, but I didn't anticipate the story to throw me as much as it had. I've no idea what this story is. When I threw the pitch I thought I did. 

There's "boxes" I reach into when playing. What comes out I put before the players. Usually these boxes are congruous with the pitch; what's on the tin is generally what's inside. Sometimes there's surprises, but generally what's on in the tin is at the top of the box. That's not been the case for this game, at all. What I've reached into isn't just dark, but alien, to me. Let's see how that works out this session!

LAST TIME ON....

Idiota had tried to get away from Tekoshai, who traumatized Idiota and forced him to work with the orc. Krakeru, evil departed dark elf, gave them both a pair of gauntlets that could force someone out of their own body if punched. If both Tekoshai and Idiota held their hands to someone's head they'd be permanently exorcised from their own bodies and some... thing... would take over that body. And with the both of them now capable of hulling out elves, Krakeru sprung his trap: go to Kotae Mah and destabilize the hated elves.

When Will and Lena asked me what the situation this time was, I thought: "Well, why not keep doubling down on this whole civil war thing on Kotae Mah? Send Zaina, the crazy elf who eventually becomes Yetekaida?" Something about that felt wrong, but it was the logical spot to send them to, given how things worked out last session. I knew I had to do something, but I didn't know why, and I didn't know what.

Here's what they gave me.

Tekoshai

B1. Travel around the outskirts of this place to find lone elves to begin turning, cautiously building our numbers while avoiding much notice. 

The Goal Belief. Simple, to the point, and it helps set up the limits of the fiction. I don't buck Goal Beliefs too much. I like to try to have the players set the limits of the session, so that way they have at least some security. At this point I knew there'd be sneaking around.

B2. Idiota was too foolish to respect sensible strength, but propaganda may be the ring in his nose to lead him. 

This was a bit of an unexpected Belief. Tekoshai seems to have run into some wall or something; I'd never even heard a breath from Lena about Tekoshai being that reasonable. I mean, his version of reasonable, anyway.

B3. Those sun-burnt sky devils and their arrogant condescending bullshit deserve every ounce of hell and pain we can give them.

There's sometimes a player writes a Belief and I just bust out laughing reading it, because I can hear them saying it. This was definitely one of those! I had a good chuckle, hearing this in Lena's voice.

I1. If someone challenges the hierarchy, put him in his place immediately. 

Oh, this one was written for Will. I don't need to worry about this one.

I2. Elves are always tortured more slowly/painfully

So I'm always bad about challenging Instincts, or at least I feel like I am. This is one of those that's always fun to do.... if I remember. Three guesses on whether or not I did!

I3. Once you begin trying to break someone,  always follow through

Again, a fun one! Part of the issue with Instincts is that if you're not paying constant attention to them they don't come up a lot. And I have a real issue with using them. I need to. Cause guess if this one happened? Guess!

Traits: Life is Death, Born to Rule Them All, Enemy of the Sun, Silent Hatred, Intense Hatred, Savage Consequences, Unrelenting Savagery, Where There’s a Whip, Sixth Sense, Sadistic

Idiota

B1. The claim to my throne isn't here, I'm gonna try and sneaky away from here

Again, I don't tend to challenge the fiction on Goal Beliefs all that much. I probably should? But things can twist so much just on their own that I try not to push it, at least at first. Let the players have their initial security on the first few sessions.

B2. This place is creeping me out. I will leave Tekoshai to his own devices because he doesn't deserve my respect anyway

There's a lot of talk between us players about how the heck these characters are going to stay together. When I hear that talk I always, always urge to just write out what the character would want and let it solve itself during play. Because it always does, one way or another. So I told Will to let it play out.

B3. Find a way to take out the elves some other way, because elves are bastards

And this is the one I decided was not just the common point between Idiota and Tekoshai, but the one that needed subversion. Somehow. Elves aren't bastards, even if the common minotaur conception was that elves of some sort had poisoned their race and made them unable to breed.

I1. When I encounter any elf, I kill them

Deliberately written for Lena's benefit. I think I may start encouraging players to write Instincts to each other, not to me, because those are the ones that get artha a lot of the time! Not that that's an excuse, but it is something I'm noticing as I write these up.

I2. When Tekoshai whips out his whip cower in fear

Ooh, I like this one. It's a good sign of character growth... and it's directed at Lena. Not on my plate. Yay!

I3. Run from danger when possible

Again, this is a good character growth one. I like it when Instincts begin to change in reaction to play. Idiota's been traumatized, repeatedly, and has bitten off a lot more than he can chew. Like, a lot more. It's good to see stuff like this.

Traits: Elves are bastards, All talk and no bite, Mouthy

Will asked about the light wound he'd gotten from the last session. I had him roll and he recovered just fine. 

Zaina came down in an elven flying ship, landing atop The Lone Keep. Tekoshai found there to be no real... anything... in her eyes as she smiled at Krakeru, asking if these were the folks he'd told her to come pick up. Idiota, seeing an elf, made his jump... and was tripped by Tekoshai's spear. "Are we really going to do this again?" asked the exasperated Tekoshai, rolling his eyes.

Time for Will's instinct to go off! And time for Lena to block him! Laughing about how she was keeping Will alive, Lena's vastly superior dice pool swamped him. This was a pretty simple roll, cut and dry. There's not a whole lot more to it than that, beyond Will chuckling as he saw his artha coming.

Tekoshai told his orcs and his wolf Howling Wind that they were getting on Zaina's ship. The orcs murmured in protest; they weren't going to get on any elf's flying ship, no matter who led them!  Howling Wind told Tekoshai as much. Tekoshai gave a speech about the enemy of their enemy being our friends, along with a veiled threat about what would happen if they didn't get on that ship. Idiota tried to sneak away during the speech, but he was spotted quickly and brought back. Tekoshai beat Idiota back down, asking if anyone else wanted to do something that stupid again. The demonic elf that had been hollowed out last session had gotten in before any of them, ready for the inevitable carnage.

This was actually a Command check; Lena leveraged Tekoshai's connections, threw in an Intimidate FORK, and passed with flying colors. Will didn't even ask for a roll; he simply wanted to have it in the fiction just how much he was trying to get away.  Lena, laughing described beating up Will's character with great aplomb. 

But then Lena suddenly decided to take a different tack. 

Zaina steered the ship into the sky, toward Tekoshai sat down and had a long conversation with Idiota about why he was fighting all of this so hard. He hated the elves, what was wrong with what was going on here? Idiota responded that he was uncomfortable working with a dead elf to kill elves. That didn't add up to Idiota. Tekoshai chuckled; the irony wasn't lost on him. But they had a chance to strike a blow against the wicked elves. And that wasn't to be underestimated, no matter how uncomfortable that made them. And Idiota found himself agreeing with the orc.

 This was not an expected conversation. Tekoshai had hit a wall with Idiota... and realized that repeatedly bashing Idiota just wasn't working. What I didn't anticipate was how... gently it all went down. This orc. This freaking minotaur. Talking it out. There wasn't any real coercion, no lies, no bullying. Just two folks who were in a situation they didn't like, commiserating over it. There was a genuineness that none of us had really seen between the two characters up till this point. Something changed.

And it just felt so wrong to have them wreck elves after that. And I think Lena and Will felt that, too. 

Everything, at that moment, felt so wrong. Uncomfortably so.

Zaina, currently a general in the elven military, was able to get past the zone security with no issues at all; nobody even checked her ship! She dropped the party off on the edge of the city, just inside the wall. Idiota and Tekoshai were overwhelmed by the constant howling of the wind, the cold. Most of the elves were meditating quietly within their homes. Zaina said to get however many elves hollowed out as they wished and to meet back up with her. Idiota wanted to know what Zaina got out of this. Zaina explained that she wanted to "borrow" whatever forces they assembled long enough to kickstart the civil war on Kotae Mah; fifty hulled elves should do. That was all that Zaina needed. 

Lena and Will asked what type of skill they'd need to sneak around this "quiet elven twilight". I mean, there are still folks out and about. So it was more of an Inconspicuous roll, at least in my eyes. As I type it now I find myself thinking it should have been self, cause how the hell does a minotaur "blend in" with a freaking all elven city?? 

He doesn't.

I mean, to be fair, the players burned the artha necessary for them to pass the Beginner's Luck test; they passed. I made the wrong call, flat. Such is a life. I'll do what I can the next time.

Oh well. Live and learn.

Tekoshai and Idiota managed to hull out ten elves, enduring the screams, the brimstone, and that smile as the thing took over. But the tenth was different. He looked at Idiot and Tekoshai and declared they were familiar. The pair were confused, how could this hulled elf know them? The hulled elf said he was a demon from Herna, taking over an exiled elven body. Herna, and the demons within it, are outside the time of Heranyt. And this demon had seen Tekoshai and Idiota before; in the future, stopping the elf-hulled force. The other hulled elves bristled. So Tekoshai and Idiota held that particular elf down, and Tekoshai beat the elf body into oblivion. The evil gauntlets given them by Krakeru set the body alight. The hulled elves looked on in shock. And they backed up.

So this was a decidedly hilarious scene to set up. I presented this problem to the two of them. Lena immediately brought up Brutal Intimidation. She didn't want to out-argue a demon, she just wanted to make it clear who was still in charge of the situation. Will threw out a helping die with Intimidation.

There was a victory yell as the dice clattered on the table. Brutal Intimidation is amazing; it's freaking open-ended!

As they snuck around Tekoshai and Idiota began to hear voices, whispering soothing words of welcome to them. Nobody else seemed to hear it, but the hulled elves remarked they had to be near The Grotto, a mysterious forest that was inside Kotae Mah. Idiota saw a yellow-skinned figure retreat into an alleyway. So Idiota went after what he saw. And Tekoshai saw, so he followed, especially after the whispers called him a coward.

They were all of a sudden in a beautiful and peaceful forest. The sky was blue; Idiota and Tekoshai hadn't seen a blue sky in weeks and blinked in it. The gith came from behind a tree and told them they had work to do.

Sometimes it just makes sense to just... let things play out. No rolls, just a sort of meditation on the story. The narration. The turn into something that just... sorta came out. Lena and I had developed The Grotto from the Undertow. It was an element that came in at the end and I'd always wanted to explore it more. 

Turns out this seemed to be the moment to do so. We'll see what happens!

A sincere thanks to Will for taking notes during the session.

Impact!: Session Two

The Burning Wheel says that it's the person with the fire in his gut that is to become the GM. He must bring a vision for the others to not only care about but to modify and bring to life by joining their ideas to his, creating something far greater than the GM had envisioned. And I've found that to be true in all the campaigns I've run. Burning Wheel is a demanding game. It's not easy to play. But man, when everyone gives their all into it the results are spectacular. I can never be grateful enough for the people I play with, who have managed to take a world that I care about so much and make it so much better, because they're a part of it. Thank you, to all of you who play with me.

With this campaign and Suihkulahde I found myself in strange waters. Orcs are not a race I really sympathized with, in any iteration, and so I don't have a very strong connection to them. Having to figure out what the symbol of orc means to me has been no easy task, especially since Tolkien was never really comfortable with them either. What do you do with a race that was bred to be evil, but since all that exists is inherently good...

Guess I'll find out through play, won't I?

Will and Lena wanted to know what their pitch was. I'd no freaking idea for a week and a half. Normally I know what to do. I sure as hell didn't here. They asked a few times, I promised them something, and then realized I had nothing. So I sat down, looked at session one, and decided to hell with it, we were going to just keep chasing the rabbit. I was going to see how far these two folks wanted to screw over elves. So I said they needed to prove themselves to the Lone Keep. If they were going to be able to use the weapons of the Lone Keep they needed to be worthy of them.

I got some questions right after that of what the hell I meant by that. My group is comprised of those who want to redeem characters. How far in going to evil was I talking about here?  We'd all agreed to play a game where the evil is turned to good, so how far was I talking? I said we'd find out, but I'd not forgotten the mission statement of the group.

This is what came back:

Tekoshai

B1. I’m going to make sure I’m walking out of here with every advantage this place has to offer both myself and the orcs. 

B2. This Krakeru doesn’t seem like any other elf bastard I’ve had to work for. Maybe he can be useful. 

B3. Idiota was clearly Named appropriately; he won’t last the return trip if he doesn’t learn to break to the lash of his betters

I1. If someone challenges the hierarchy, put him in his place immediately. 

I2. Always use others when expedient

I3. Always protect yourself at all costs

Idiota

B1. Tekoshai can screw off, he doesn't deserve my respect 

B2. Elves evilness is destroying this planet, I must try to learn how to use these weapons of mass destruction to stop them at all cost

B3. I will not be persuaded from believing I'm the rightful heir to the throne

I1. when startled attack

I2. before entering a room, scan for danger

I3. once in a room scan for all possible exits

Krakeru looked at Tekoshai's works of torture and murder, genuinely impressed. Tekoshai was briefly uncomfortable, but accepted that Krakeru wasn't like most dark elves he'd worked with. Krakeru asked if Tekoshai was ready to move up in the world. Tekoshai told Krakeru to lead the way! So Krakkeru led Tekoshai through the double doors before them, where Idiota had walked through a few minutes before. Krakeru told Tekoshai that he couldn't use the weapons of the Lone Keep alone; he'd need help. And for that they needed Idiota.

The minotaur who had been standing next to Idiota asked him if he was willing to do whatever it took to restore the minotaurs, including destroying the elven race. Idiota said he'd do whatever it took. Just as he said this the doors opened, and in walked Tekoshai. 

Krakeru appeared next to Idiota, startling him. Will, who has a penchant for chaos, rubbed his hands in glee. I had him roll Intimidate, to see if he impressed Krakeru with the instinctual swing he was about to make. If  Idiota succeeded Krakeru would take a shine to Idiota and help reign in Tekoshai's own instinct of enforcing hierarchy. Lena and Will are very good friends, who like giving each other as much shit as they can in any game they play together, so they were both excited to get artha for doing what they do best. 

Idiota failed the roll. So Krakeru was... less than impressed with Idiota's aggression. So he didn't get in the way when Tekoshai got his lash out. I was still very uncomfortable with the idea that there was no whip skill, so I asked if it was okay to for me to check with the Burning Wheel Discord group really quick, to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Lena and Will gave permission, and for the moment we went with Agility versus Speed.... which Will borked. Hard. Tekoshai got an actual Light wound off on Idiota, forcing a Steel test. Which was also horribly failed.

Will chose for Idiota to run screaming. So off he went, through the eldritch eggs that were forming! All of us were laughing at just how badly this was going. So Tekoshai ran Idiota down, tackling him to the ground.

It was here we learned from Discord that there is a Lash skill, in the Codex, with trolls. Given how important the whip seemed to be to Tekoshai I asked if we wanted to allow Lena to swap out one of her weapon skills for Lash, as that would make the whip central to Tekoshai. Lena liked the idea, cracking some BSDM jokes which had Will and I laughing hysterically.

Anyway.

Tekoshai took out a knife and cut the symbol of his tribe into Idiota's flank. Idiota belonged to Tekoshai now and he was going to help unlock the weapons that Krakeru was offering them. Yet another borked rolled from Will; Idiota, cowed, called Tekoshai crazy under his breath as he got up, smarting from the carving in his flank.

Krakeru had two turmeltunuts (creatures who fall apart without the presence of pain) bring out a female elf who'd been caught trying to infiltrate the Keep. Two pairs of wicked-looking gauntlets were brought out, with all sorts of sharp curves and profane symbols etched into them. Tekoshai eagerly put on his pair and forced Idiota to put on his pair. Directed by Krakeru, Tekoshai punched the elf in the stomach. There was a scream that sounded like existential glass breaking; the elf's soul was literally punched out of her body, dipping it into Herna, the dark abyss that none wish to go to. The elf, when she came back, seemed happy to see Tekoshai and Idiota; they were going to fix everything, after all, how could she not be happy to see them?

Krakeru explained that if both pairs of gloves gripped the elf's head they could exorcise her soul and bring something else to take over the body. Tekoshai was ecstatic; Idiota was scared. So was the elf, as she realized they were going to do it. She pleaded with Idiota, telling him he had a choice. Idiota weakly told her he didn't; she disagreed, pitifully. A scream was heard from reality itself: metaphysical nails on a chalkboard. Ash came out of the elf's mouth. A fell light came into her eyes. The voice that now came out was male, deep and disturbing. It asked for Tekoshai's and Idiota's name. Tekoshai gave his.

So quick lore note: this is happening before session thirty-four of The Undertow. In that session Mikansia had discovered that Kotae Mah, the capital of the Elven Kingdoms had been ripped apart by civil war. I've no idea why, but I realized that this was the beginning of the devastation that Mikansia had walked in on. Like most things when GMing a game, it was a moment of "OH, RIGHT, OF COURSE!"

Krakeru told Idiota and Tekoshai that Kotae Mah was currently falling apart. Tekoshai and Idiota could go and unbalance the elves in their moment of weakness... destroy the elves with what looked like elves.

Impact!: Session One

So, in order to understand what happened this session I need to go over the incredibly nasty history of Krakeru and The Lone Keep.

Who is Krakeru, you may ask?

Krakeru, a dark elf cultist, was the beginning villain of The Undertow. He was the end result of generations of inbreeding and murder, in an effort to create the dark elf messiah called the Yetekaida. He raped his own daughter, the main character Mikansia (who was played by Lena), and tried to break her will to make her join him in overthrowing the cult that had so defined his life, The Lone Keep. Mikansia refused his offer, killed him, and then found The Lone Keep (which was orbiting above their planet) and knocked it out of the sky. 

Well, inside The Lone Keep were dozens, possibly dozens of Eldritch Eggs. Eldritch Eggs are gigantic structures that are formed when a person fully gives into despair, causing a link between Rayona, the Dark Ocean (what most people think of as The Far Realm), to appear. Eldritch Eggs can allow the dead to come back to life.

When The Lone Keep hit the ground all of the Eldritch Eggs within were pulverized, filling the atmosphere with a substance known for linking the living back with the dead. 

The last time we saw Krakeru he had been grabbed by his long'time foe Akseli to aid Mikansia in saving the elven kingdoms. 

This session is a week after The Lone Keep hit the ground, killing four armies on the continent of Armo. Krakeru, who is a ghost, hasn't been grabbed by Akseli yet. That's a little while away. There was a massive four-way war going on between minotaurs, orcs, wolves, and roden. In the climactic battle the Lone Keep smashed down, killing almost all of those present at the battle.

Before the session we got Lena's character cleared up: his name was Tekoshai, an orc who was renowned for his luck. He was named because he was the only one to survive The Lone Keep falling into the battleground.

Tekoshai

B1. I will check out the structure the sky devils crashed to look for information and a suitable trophy for my collection”

B2. Minotaurs are only useful at the end of a harness or spit. 

B3. Those who aren’t causing pain are enduring it; always make sure you’re the first. 

I1. If someone challenges the hierarchy, put him in his place immediately. 

I2. Always use others when expedient

I3. Always protect yourself at all costs

Traits: Life is Death, Born to Rule Them All, Enemy of the Sun, Silent Hatred, Intense Hatred, Savage Consequences, Unrelenting Savagery, Where There’s a Whip, Sixth Sense, Sadistic

Last time I'd talked about burning up Idiota, the minotaur. He's an outcast minotaur who has just been  informed that somehow he's the one now in charge of the united wolven packs. He's not surprised, unlike the rest of the world.

Idiota

B1) The tower of mass destruction must have weapons of mass destruction hidden inside.

B2) These strangers are out to get me

B3) I will not be persuaded from believing I'm the rightful heir to the throne.

I1) when startled attack

I2) before entering a room, scan for danger

I3) once in a room scan for all possible exits

Traits

Elves are bastards, rightful heir to the throne, Bando brand, crust dwellers ( Minotaur tunnelers) brand, wandering soul brand

The remaing nations sent out Idiota, Tekoshai with his gang of orcs, and five roden, to investigate The Lone Keep. Which was somehow standing, none the worse for wear from falling from the atmosphere. Idiota muttered this was clearly the orcs' fault. Tekoshai's whip came out.

You know what I can't find in the Burning Wheel book, even now?

The freaking whip skill.

Spent five minutes trying to find it after being told by Lena that whip wasn't in a single orc lifepath. I just sorta assumed there was one. If there is and we missed it let me know! I decided to make it an Agility versus Agility test. Which Tekoshai won, overwhelmingly. Idiota stepped in, trying to grab the whip, but got cracked acrost the back. "The name's Tekoshai. Best to get used to saying it, cause I'm in charge", snapped Tekoshai. Idiota didn't argue.

As they got closer the dread of the Keep affected all but Tekoshai; those Steel tests were rough. But one good Command roll saw Tekoshai bringing the whip to everyone, forcing everyone back towards the Keep. It is here I must apologize to Will: he's genuinely one of the funniest people I've had the pleasure of knowing, and had Lena and I rolling in the aisles the whole session. This all sounds very dark and drab, but apparently the spirit of early Spider-Man has taken full possession of Will, because getting him to shut up in the middle of my dark and serious prose is impossible. And absolutely hilarious.

Anyways, so Idiota and the other orc were going to check out the Lone Keep, while the others waited. Idiota told the orc that he would turn on him given the first opportunity. The orc felt likewise. Idiota noticed that the Lone Keep stones were constantly shifting. There was a large opening where a portcullis used to be. The orc went in through the opening, trembling.

Idiota didn't.

Idiota came back to Tekoshai. "You said I needed to find a way in. Didn't say I needed to go in it myself." Cursing, Tekoshai sent Idiota and another orc back.  When they got there Idiota saw an elf standing in the opening, who invited him in. Minotaurs had been given the genophage treatment by elves millennia ago, so Idiota told the elf to fuck off, as he was no friend of any elf, ever. The elf protested his involvement with such an enterprise. But he was willing to help restore the minotaurs to glory, if Idiota would only listen to him. Idiota waved to Tekoshai and the rest to come join him, and told the elf to go on.

The introduced himself as Krakeru.

He invited Idiota into The Lone Keep. What followed was five minutes of Will cracking joke after joke about how stupid Idiota was for going in. And then Idiota went in, as Lena and I were starting to get stitches. But only after making sure there were four exits in the next room, which was extremely large. Tekoshai came up to the entrance but didn't go himself, choosing to listen by the opening. 

Krakeru offered Idiota a weapon that would allow the minotaurs to claim the glory they deserved. Idiota said he wanted to see the weapon. Krakeru vanished, and then reappeared with a vial. Opening it, he offered it to Idiota, who drank it. A minotaur who reminded Idiota of himself appeared. The strange minotaur congratulated Idiota, for it was time to restore the minotaur race.

Krakeru appeared next to Tekoshai, who tried to stab him with his spear out of surprise.  The spear went straight through Krakeru, who informed Tekoshai he was dead. Tekoshai, suspicious of the sky devil (And Lena trying to laugh off the dark humor of becoming besties with... well... Krakeru...) asked what that meant. Why was Krakeru here, if he was dead? Krakeru said that all he wished was to provide his weapons to the living... provided they were of one mind. Undivided.

What followed was five minutes of Lena and Will asking what the hell that meant, while I kept dropping ever greater hints that Krakeru would only deal with one faction; the one that still lived. After about a minute I kept dropping hints simply because I found it funny.

But eventually the roden charged the orcs. While Tekoshai dealt with all five roden at once, one of the orcs ran after Idiota, who ran into the Keep itself. Tekoshai killed the five roden, impaling the last one to watch him suffer. Grinning hideously, Tekoshai took an axe and sawed off the roden's foot, relishing every twitch of anguish from the roden, who couldn't scream due to a spear in the gut.  Hanging the foot off his belt, Tekoshai told Krakeru they were all of one mind. Krakeru aproved, and Tekoshai found he didn't hate this sky devil so much.

Idiota found himself in a large room, where ghostly eldritch eggs were materializing (they normally take months to years) into depressive cups in the ground. Idiota asked what this was. The minotaur he was with said this was the beginning.