Fate Core Relationship Material

I started working on this because of Evil Hat putting up a link to some challenges for potential writers.  I did come up with a 250 word version of this material for the challenge (and sent it off, despite being a bundle of nerves about it!), but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to flesh it out beyond what the word limit would allow.  It's got some roots in when my group playtested Smallville the RPG, and in the Strands of Fate incarnation of our Firefly game.  I really felt that the mechanic of having linked aspects for communal property (buildings, spaceships) could translate well to a relationship.  Well, being asked to make a key mechanic of a relationship-heavy game using the Fate Fractal pretty much begged I revisit those ideas.

In a setting in which relationships and social interplay are the focus of gameplay, relationships should be are larger than life, so simply creating aspects for a single character as in other Fate settings won’t really suffice.  Therefore, all major relationships in such a setting should have their own slate of aspects, stresses, and consequences, but realistically probably would not have skills or stunts (though, hey, if you can pull that off, rock it).

A relationship’s stress boxes are an average of the mental stress boxes of all relationship members averaged and rounded up and are called relation stress.  My mentality here is that the relationship cannot be stronger than its members communal mental ability to handle it (as it would be if it was simply added), but might be stronger than the weakest member's ability (as it would be if it was simply the lowest number of stress boxes in the relationship) thanks to the influence of more stable members.  These may be directly socially attacked by anyone--in or out of the relationship--using the lowest defense stat among all members of the relationship present.  Additionally, these stress boxes may be indirectly affected by members of the relationship by giving them stress and/or consequences in place of taking the same amount of stress/consequences on their own character sheet.

Relationship aspects as I see them take three forms.  Most important of these is called relations, which works as an analogue to the high concept aspect on a character sheet.  The characters named in this aspect are both—or all!—able to invoke or be compelled by any of the aspects within the relationship.  Others outside of the relations aspect can also compel the aspects within the relationship, but must first discover them via assessment on one or more members of the relationship.  Relations can be:

A familial bond: Amy and Louise, Sisters to the End
A romantic tryst: Romeo and Juliet, New-found Lovers
Or something less friendly: Juan and Guillermo, Rival Aspiring Singers

A second important aspect for a relationship is its trouble.  What's a TV romance without something throwing a wrench into the works?  This aspect should be something that can affect all characters involved in the relationship.  This may take forms such as:

Focused on one person: Lou Puts Work First
Focused on their environment: Montagues Hate Capulets
Or focused on everyone in the relationship: More in Common than We'd Like

The third aspect type for relationships are those built up over the course of play (or backstory) and should represent major events in the relationship.  The older the relationship, the more aspects it should have!  Using our same examples, we might come up with extra aspects like...

For Amy and Lou: A Shared Love of Horses, Grandpa Needs Us Both, Missing Mom
For Romeo and Juliet: You Kiss By the Book
Or for Juan and Guillermo: Battle of the Boy Bands, Maria is So Amazing

A multiple-person relationship might look something like:
Relations: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo; Heroes on the Half-Shell
Trouble: Mutants are Outcasts
When the Evil Shredder Attacks, We Don't Cut Him No Slack
Raised and Trained by Splinter

Relationship aspects are the rare instance where an aspect can be invoked by one person for another.  Michelangelo might tag When the Evil Shredder Attacks... to help Raphael defend against the strikes of the villain.  Or Amy might tag Sisters to the End to help support Lou in an argument with a rival ranch owner.  These tags would represent the extra emotional boost (or distress!) caused by the presence of another member of the relationship.

Theoretically, these bonuses could stack based on the number of relationship members, but that feels a bit like bait for min-maxing (sixteen person relationships for all!) and I'd at the very least like to ensure that each shift is paid for by the person invoking it.  Which would probably be limited by only one person can invoke a specific aspect of the relationship per action.  This bit definitely needs some playtesting, but it seems to work logically for now, at least.  I'd also, if someone was trying to use these rules in a non-relationship-driven game, make my players work quite a bit to form them.  Through gameplay only because the benefits are so strong!

A few notes...  Yes, I used the show Heartland as an example.  My wife loves the series and it was an easy fallback to something heavily relationship-driven that could fit the genre.  The negative version of the relationships system needs some more fleshing out, because it doesn't probably offer enough benefits, unless it was a very spite heavy game, to be tempting.  I specifically omitted polyamorous romantic relationships from my examples, because I have zero practical understanding of how they work.  I have no doubt someone might want to use these rules for that and I'd whole-heartedly encourage them to do so, but I didn't want to offend with ignorance so I chose to risk offending via omission.

Camp Fate-zzly Part 3

The group at the van (Roger, Herbert, Flynn, Lacy, and about eight campers, including Kimberly and Gary the DnD fan) climbed over the tree and started walking.  Not much firther down the path, they spotted a bear trap and Roger disarmed it so they cluld take it with them.

Back at camp, Bubba the Lasy started gathering the remaining counselors and campers for a daring plan to escape across the lake.  The assembled group headed down to the docks as the storm broke and set about unsecuring the canoes.  Nervous but determined, they set out across the lake.

As the path before them continued to narrow, Flynn's group grew increasingly nervous.  They felt like they were being stalked, perhaps by an actual cannibal named Shia LeBeouf.  They eventually happened upon a cabin with what looked like Morris' jeep parked nearby.  Roger silenced the others and snuck towards it, only to be shot at by an old man and then chased by an orange-haired hillbilly clown.  Flynn, Herbert, and Lacy began to skirt the edges of the cabin's clearing, to try and get to the truck.

Bubba the Lady's group made landfall and ran to a nearby dorm, only to find the door bashed in and the radio sputtering.  Bubba used it to try and call the police to come and save the kids, but couldn't be sure if she was getting through.  And it was only moments before Otis arrived and she rushed back out to face the bear-masked killer.

Back at the cabin, Flynn's group were almost to the truck when the kids made a little too much noise and the shotgun toting elder turned on them.  Herbert made a run for the road as Flynn charged the old coot and hit him with a crowbar that they'd had in the van.  In the intervening moments, the old man had already fired off a shot, which wounded Herbert.  The angry chef turned and joined Flynn in attacking the man shooting them as Lacy tried to keep the kids out of the line of fire.

They circled and missed one another a few times, but eventually Flynn's mouthiness distracted the old man long enough for Herbert to get a solid blow in.  The old man nearly shot Flynn a moment later, but the teen managed to dodge.  Out in the woods, Roger was having problems of his own, as the clown chasing him was firing arrow after arrow ever closer to the outdoorsman.  Roger began laying snares and other traps to slow the clown, who managed to dodge most of them, as well as the bear trap, before scrambling into the trees.  Having led the archer clown far enough away, Roger began doubling back to help the others.

Across the lake, Otis grabbed onto Bubba the Lady and began dragging her into the water.  Bubba was a mighty lady, though, and turned the tables, pushing Otis under the water as the kids watched on from the shore.  For a time, it looked like she might win out, but as they drifted further out into the lake, the fight with Otis and the press of the water overcame Bubba.  Using her last burst of strength to drag Otis down with her and save the kids, Bubba the Lady died in the lake.

At the cabin, Flynn put the old man down for good with a solid blow to the head.  Unnerved, he yelled for Lacy to start the jeep with the keys they'd kept since the night before.  She managed to and got the kids in, but before Herbert and Flynn could join them, an arrow popped one of the tires of the jeep and the kids scattered.  Lacy only managed to keep three of the girls and Gary from sprinting into the dark woods.

Trying to find shelter, the teens ran to the house.  Herbert pushed the door open and Flynn got the kids and Lacy inside and told them to duck.  Herbert began checking the other rooms as Lacy and Flynn spotted Roger coming in from the tree line, badly hurt by an arrow in his leg.  Before either could go to pull him in, the door on the other side of the house opened to reveal Dawn.  The asthmatic little girl rushed to Lacy, declaring "You're my new mommy!"

Herbert came across an old woman in the den, who almost immediately attacked him with an axe.  He struggled to stay ahead of her as she swung the blade at him, only just narrowly avoiding being disembowled.  Meanwhile, Dawn declared her hatred for Flynn and explained that her father was named Jeremy, the true name of Otis.

As Herbert managed to wrestle the axe from the old woman and kill her, Lacy left Flynn with Dawn momentarily to pull the struggling Roger into the safety of the house.  The outdoorsman paused a moment to scoop up the old man's fallen shotgun and its single round.  Reassembled the teens, and cook, headed upstairs to where Dawn claimed her room and her fathers were.

Herbert and Flynn kicked in the locked door of Otis' room and were treated to the grisly site of Shelly and Kevin's remains.  Flynn demanded that Lacy and the kids stay away, quickly closing the door as Herbert searched the room for weapons.  He found a large meathook, which he gave to Lacy after wiping it down and emerging from the room.  They opened the door to Dawn's room and used her blankets to make bindings for her.  Roger began carrying the girl, keeping the shotgun menacingly close, as they were all afraid Otis or the archer would return any time.

They descended and began edging towards the jeep, but the archer was waiting.  He shot Roger repeatedly, causing the teen to spasmodically pull the trigger of the shotgun, killing Dawn in turn.  Flynn used his imposing presence to scare the kids into running for the jeep and everyone but Flynn managed to get in.  And it was then that Otis arrived as the archer clown scrambled down from the roof and ran to a nearby shed.  On his way, he put another arrow into the jeep, blocking the door nearest Lacy from opening.  Herbert managed to get the jeep moving, though it was slow and awkward.

Otis continued to close in and Flynn still hadn't made it into the jeep.  With a gathered force of effort, he slung himself into the back, hefting the crowbar.  Otis closed quickly on the slow moving jeep, and began slashing at the kids.  Flynn swung his crowbar, missing, and Otis took the opening to haul him from the jeep.  Lacy screamed in horror for the boy she now called her boyfriend, but Herbert listened to Flynn and kept going.  Moments later, the clown archer burst from the shed and gave pursuit on an ATV.  Otis began dragging Flynn back to the house.

Sensing his end might be near, Flynn began using all his skills at word play to enrage Otis, first at the now-dead Roger and then at the archer who had inadvertently caused Dawn's death.  Flynn had hoped it might give him a moment to slip away, but Otis managed to cuff him to a radiator.  Otis mangled Roger's body and then returned to Flynn.  It looked for a moment that he might kill Flynn, and he did bring an axe down on Flynn's shoulder, but his rage at Dawn's death got the better of him and he went after the archer and the jeep.  Flynn quickly began trying to free himself.

The jeep broke down at a bridge a little ways away from the cabin.  The bridge itself seemed weak, so Herbert was quick to take the kids and get moving to the other side.  Gary was stuck, though, and Lacy had to pull him from the jeep, leaving them exposed as the archer arrived on his ATV.  With quick thinking, Lacy and Gary rolled under the jeep as the archer got off his ATV and hurried after Herbert and the girls.  They heard the girls and then Herbert scream and then all was quiet.

Lacy and Gary stealthily made it to the woods only moments before Otis arrived.  In his rage, he killed the archer and then mysteriously vanished.  Lacy convinced Gary to stay hidden and determined to go back for Flynn, despite Gary's assertions that the teen was probably dead.  Lacy managed to make a tense and quiet journey back through the woods without being caught by Otis.

Flynn, meanwhile, had engaged with another of Otis' returning children, Don.  Don was furious at his dead family and tried to throw knives at Flynn, narrowly missing.  Flynn, fueled by adrenaline, nearly pulled the radiator from the floor, but his injured shoulder gave out.  Just as Don was looming over Flynn, Lacy arrived and incapacitated the evil camper.  As she tried to break Flynn out of his handcuffs using the meat hook, Otis smashed through the window and almost grabbed Lacy.  She managed to scramble back and as Flynn swung wildly at Otis to fend him off, Lacy managed to get the other teen free.

Otis was at the doorway already, though.  Flynn rose and hissed for Lacy to run while putting himself between them.  Otis was nearly about to overpower Flynn when Lacy slashed him and gave Flynn an opening to shove Otis back outside.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as Otis managed to scramble up, and put an axe blow into Flynn's chest.  The teen crumpled, gasping to Lacy that he loved her.  Things looked bleak for the girl until the sound of an ATV echoed through the clearing.  Gary arrived, hitting Otis with the vehicle.  He managed to get her on and they roared back to the bridge.

Unsure that the bridge could take the added weight of the ATV, they began to run across, but Otis had already caught up to them.  Lacy made it to the other side, but Gary turned and declared Otis "shall not pass!"  He jumped and the weight of the jeep, Otis, the archer, and Gary made the bridge collapse.  Gary made a desperate grab for Lacy's hand, but missed and he plummeted to the river below.  Moments later, the police arrived to find a sobbing Lacy.  Otis' body was never found...

Camp Fate-zzly Part 2

As Flynn returned to the camp, a chorus of screams rang out from the girls showers.  Several of the counselors ran to see what was happening, while Flynn beelined back to Lacy.  Flynn and Lacy discussed the idea of slipping off for a little alone time, and Flynn suggested a trip into the woods he'd just visited.  They made it out to a secluded spot and were ready to get more intimate when Morris' voice came over the PA demanding Flynn come to his office.  It turned out the screams had been from Johnny spying on the girls.  The pair briefly debated skipping out on the summons and leaving the camp, but Flynn's better urges won out and he headed back.

Lacy followed along, not wanting to be apart from Flynn but Morris was none too happy with Flynn, threatening the slacker with being sent away and bad reports relayed to his school and parents.  Flynn, growing increasingly angry at Morris, decided to lie and lie big.  He pointed out that Johnny had been off his watch since Flynn had been out on the nature hike.  He said outright that he hadn't told Johnny he could go off on his own and that he'd been focused on his other campers, which Lacy backed up on.  Morris decided to let Flynn off with a warning.

Morris explained that the counselors needed to secure the barn and that there were reports of a storm rolling in.  Beyond that, he mentioned that Shelly and Dawn still hadn't returned, nor had a few others that had gone out.  Morris intended to go out and get supplies for the storm and left Wes in charge.

It was lunch, so Flynn went to supervise while Lacy went to do her assigned task doing arts and crafts with the campers and making decorated pinecones.  Down at the lake, Roger was serving as lifeguard.  One of the campers, cruelly named Lunchbox, was pushed "accidentally" into the water by Kevin, who was showing off a bit in front of Tracey.  Roger jumped in and saved the chubby kid  Roger's list of people he didn't like was steadily growing.  Bubba the Lady met Steve's other lady-friend, Saffron and became fast friends with her, as well.

Once those tasks were complete, the counselors were assigned storm-prep tasks by Wes.  Roger and Tracey were to tie up the canoes, Chet and Jason were to supervise campers, Karen and Lacy were to secure the girls cabins, Kevin and Flynn were to check the boys cabins, and CJ and Bubba would lock up the sports equipment.  The others would help as needed and keep looking for the missing campers and Shelley.

Flynn and Lacy only finished a portion of their task, then made excuses to go and find one another.  They planned to find a place to be intimate, starting with the barn, which gave them both a bad feeling.  Eventually, they came up with the idea of asking Chet, whose family owned the camp, for the key to Morris' office.  After a little bribery and a bit more lying, they managed to snag the keys from Chet and made off to the office.

Bubba the Lady, in the meantime, had been helping CJ get the campers rounded up before heading down to get the equipment stowed.  She saw Herbert McSherbet, the camp's cook, being quite mean to the kids, including Lunchbox, who'd missed dinner.  The two began to argue and a full blown fight came close to breaking out, before Wes dragged Herbert off to Morris' office for some discipline.

Which meant, of course, that they walked in on Flynn and Lacy.  Herbert used the distraction to take off, as Wes tried to focus on the teens.  He stepped away to let them get themselves decent, and instead Flynn blocked the door and they continued.  Eventually they stopped and Wes had a chance to blow a gasket.  He walked them back to the kitchen, where Herbert had gotten involved in throwing away the kids' dessert.

Roger and Tracey took the arrival of more counselors as a chance to head down to the dock and tie up the canoes.  Jason and Chet had confided in him their plan to head back over to the girl's camp again and Roger was intent on getting his revenge.  He left one canoe free for them, with a little bit of sabotage.  In the meantime, Chet and Lunchbox went missing, leaving Jason to plan alone.

Tracey pulled Lacy aside and informed her twin that Flynn had never had a relationship with Tracey.  This enraged the nerdy teen, who planned to confront Flynn.  Bubba and CJ rather uneventfully cleaned up the sporting equipment as the storm began to roll in.  Angry at the management of the camp, and maybe trying to distract Lacy from her anger, Flynn began to put together a plan to steal Kevin's van and head back to town.

While making a last sweep, CJ and Bubba found blood and followed it to find Chet stabbed near the barn.  They hurried back to the dining hall to warn the others.  Roger checked the clubhouse quickly to see if Lunchbox was there, but he wasn't and the outdoorsman was ready to head back and check in.

In the dining hall, Herbert started to tell a horror story with the intent of scaring the kids.  Flynn, still annoyed, decided to flicker the lights to add to the effect, but when he flipped them, the power went out.  Flynn, was ready to use that as his cue to leave, but was convinced by Lacy to stay and look after the kids.  Wes decided to head out to fix it just as first Bubba and CJ, then Roger, got back with the bad news about Chet.

Meanwhile Roger formed a second search party with Bubba and Herbert to go out searching.  Roger found Karen where Lacy had left her and she returned safely to the dining hall.  The search party turned theur efforts to rescuing Lunchbox.  Tracey tried to continue her reconciliation with Lacy.

With the news of Chet's murder, Flynn returned to his idea of leaving.   He gathered Lacy, Kevin, and Tracey, organizing them to take a group of kids, head back to town, and send the police back.  The others agreed and gathered a large group of campers.  Lacy expressed concern about a lack of seatbelts in the van, but Flynn glibly replied "Don't worry about it, it's the 80's!"  She didn't think that was much of a justification, but was too concerned with leaving to argue much.

The van had sunk into the mud from the heavy rain, so the group planned to have Lacy drive while Kevin and Flynn pushed.  As they braced to push, Otis struck, dragging Kevin under the van and stabbing him.  At almost the same time Roger and Herbert arrived, having left Bubba to search for Steve and Saffron who'd gone off to get high.

The two extra men helped force Otis to retreat and the group went to a shed to try and find something to help the van out of the mud.  Roger and Herbert began to argue, which almost came to blows until Tracey, stamding by the window, was grabbed from outside by Otis.

Roger dove to try and save her, but was pushed away and left with a concussion.   Meanwhile, Bubba found Steve and Saffron.  The hippie girl was dead, causing much weeping by Bubba the Lady and Electric Steve.  They determined to honor her by stopping the murders.

Herbert, Flynn, and Roger rushed back to the van where Lacy was waiting with the kids.  Otis beat them there, though, throwing Tracey's head st the windshield of the van.  Their arrival and Flynn's bravado seemed to scare Otis away.  Quickly, the pushed planks under the vsn's wheels and pushed it out of the mud.  With Lacy at the wheel, they headed out.

Not too much later Bubba the Lady and Steve got back to the dining hall, informing CJ and the other surviving counselors that Saffron was dead.  The kids remaining began to cry in fear.  Steve wanted to abandon them with Bubba, but she refused and when he got hysterical knocked him out and hid him so she could protect them.

In the van, Lacy had gotten her group to the bridge away from camp, but the rushing river has knocked it out.  Roger spotted a narrow service road, so they turned down that with Lacy carefully navigating the dirt path.  That is, unitl a giant redwood blocked the path...

War of Ashes: Post-playtest

So normally, I do write ups for each game session, and I take notes during play so I can track it.

Unfortunately, I find it really hard to do that and GM at the same time.  So instead, I'll talk a bit about the setting of War of Ashes, the rules for the game, and our characters (and how the first two items affected them).

The setting of War of Ashes was, for me, the real gem of this playtest.  Probably not a shock to most who'll read this.  Evil Hat and Zombiesmith have been describing it as "grimsical," a portmanteau of grim and whimsical.  That's definitely a good fit as a descriptor.  The creatures of War of Ashes are cute.  Even the ravenous and terrifying Kuld are basically like hairless frog cousins of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch.  And yet they're out and about dismembering one another for food, a chance at survival, and in the name of their gods.  The contrast is a bit like the old Reese's "you got chocolate in my peanut butter!" commercials.

The setting info in the playtest was DENSE, but I think a lot of that comes from a lack of finished art and no real finalized layout work.  It took me a while to get through it, so I kept my scenario simple: the players were recruited by the Church of Agaptus to retrieve sacred Ghas (giant riding geese of my creation).  We all got to taste a bit of the world, but not so much our lack of knowledge distracted from play.  It was great, too, that War of Ashes encouraged the inclusion of new races, critters, and locations in the world, paving the way for the Ghas, which became a nice combination of comic relief and living macguffin.

By the time my regular GM took over in our second playtest, I felt I had enough of a grip on the world to play a priest of Atronia, who joined up with the other players to discover who was smuggling baby Kuld into Elvorix territory.  Playing was as much fun as GMing, which is a wonderful thing to be able to say.  The setting and tone were such a hit that we plan on being able to keep our War of Ashes campaing as our backup should our main campaigns need a week off.

There were some cool aspects to the War of Ashes rules, as well.  My favorite, especially as GM was "Divine Interest."  As players did really well or poorly, they attracted divine interest from the generally well-meaning but bungling (and slightly vengeful) gods of Agaptus.  It was great fun watching the dread of divine interest build in my players, making even simple pathfinding and animal wrangling almost as high tension as pitched combat.  It was just fantastic.

The system overall is built on the bones of Fate Accelerated Edition, which was easy to pick up for both our Fate vets (most of the group) and our one Fate newbie.  I'm convinced the barebones approach to Fate is not just a good in for younger roleplayers, but also for those used to the six-stat system of DnD/Pathfinder (and that seems to be the logic behind Fate: Freeport, which I recently picked up).  It was fast to get into and serves as a strong primer for the full version of Fate.

We also played with the Weight and Froth systems in War of Ashes.  Weight is something we're adapting over to our WoWFate sessions (as are lethal dice, which I'll get to momentarily); simply put, size matters and when a Ghas (weight 2) charged a weight 1 Evorix, the extra oomph added by that weight difference felt very substantial.  Froth represents a sort of battle rage, eventually leading to the use of lethal dice (also allowed by certain weapons).  Lethal dice cut straight to the consequences of an opponent, skipping stress, making them perfect indicators of when "shit just got real!"

All in all, this gave our somewhat narrowly scoped all-Evorix party a lot more room to play than one might suspect.  We had the previously divinely-touched soldier from the north, who wielded a sword of the gods.  His girlfriend, the dirksherd, who was always irritated that her mouse-like flock was thought of as a food source.  They were joined by the soldier's Beaker-inspired, meeping standard bearer.  They met a Kuld-researcher who just wanted to give peace a chance (and later got divinely swapped into a Kuld body).  There was also the retired soldier turned Ghas farmer who couldn't keep his critters under control; a bard who sang everything, sometimes violently, who just wanted into politics; and a beautiful, not-god-fearing Evorix who was handy with a knife.  When I joined, I played a conman priest who used moss in all his rituals, as well as his clothes.

Because the rules were simple and the setting encouraged us to get a little weird, we came up with a really entertaining bunch.  I could seriously see them as a cartoon that would be all-ages appropriate (which is not always a thing we're good at).  Everything seemed finely tuned towards directing us back to that grimsical tone, and our sessions were better for it.  I'd encourage everyone to look for this one when it comes out.

War of Ashes Playtest

While I'm getting the newest WoWFate post set, I think it'd be good to mention that my group got into Evil Hat/Zombiesmith's War of Ashes playtest and we'll be running that the next couple weeks.

The setting is what the makers have been describing as "grimsical," which is a portmanteau of grim and whimsical.  I've been describing it as muppet vikings.  I'll run the playtest this week, and pur usual GM will follow up next week.

My plan, when I play, is to be Urp, priest of the god of moss.  Urp will use moss in all his divinations (and let it grow in his fur), while trying really, really hard to not actually be noticed by the gods.  I'm really looking forward to both weeks.  Expect follow up posts for that in the near future.

WoWFate: Rogues Do It From Behind

The next morning, the assembled team was summoned to join the caravan headed to the Crossroads, which only Thorren had much knowledge of, through  his interactions with Taurajo, Razor Hill, and Orgrimmar.  At the caravan, they met a rogue Orc named Fhreyd, who would later become known as Sleepy Rogue.

The first leg of the journey past rather uneventfully.  The creatures, and peoples, of the Barrens kept their distance and the party could relax.  When they stopped for the night, the adventurers started chatting amongst themselves.  Brim, still offended that Thorren had chosen Stormstout Brew over Lightbrew, challenged the Tauren to an armwrestling contest.  If Thorren won, Brim wouldn't bother him about the Lightbrew again.  If Brim won, Thorren would trade his Stormstout in for Lightbrew.  The dwarf struggled nobly, but was no mach for the power of the Tauren.

A bit more conversation, including planning the watch rotation, and the group bedded down for the night.  Brim and Zulfi'shi took first watch.

Ash, the faerie dragon companion of Yshara, flew off investigating.  Not long later Ash returned, clearly alarmed.  He woke Yshara, and in turn everyone else, and set out to kead his mistress back to what he'd found.  The others quickly followed.

Parker and Thorren quickly covered the distance of Yshara's lead and the trio discovered an Orcish farm surrounded by raptors.  Atop the farm was an one-armed Orc farmer, clearly being hunted by the raptors.

Further back, Etiainen tripped Zulfi'shi, drastically slowing the Witch Doctor.  At the farm, Thorren's sharp eyes revealed young raptors eating the farmer's pigs.  Having just arrived and trying to see, Zulfi'shi summoned ghost lights, appearing as skeletal figures.  These glowing apparitions reminded Urist of the Scourge and he turned to head back to the caravan and rally reinforcements.

Thorren's air elemental, Nilc'hi, moved to open the gate to the pigs' pen.  The startled young raptors moved to flee.  Etiainen and Zulfi'shi fired elemental and magical force into the raptors, but it was Parker, at Brim's call, and Yshara, in bear form, who waded in and dealt heavy damage to the raptors.  The farmer called down that his children were inside and threatened by more raptors.  Thorren plunged into the building.

As Brim, Parker, Yshara, Zulfi'shi, and Etiainen tore into the raptors outside, the sounds of Urist and the caravan guards nearing grew increasingly apparent.  The raptors fled before Thorren could find the children, but they ended up being safe.

The farmer thanked the group for saving his family.  Urist's force arrived and began to search for the Scourge.  Zulfi'shi explained that what Urist had seen was her magic, not actual Undead and everyone calmed.  A plan to find the raptors was formulated, at nearly the same time everyone realized the caravan was completely unguarded, save for Fhreyd.

Brim and Yshara set out to hunt the raptors while everyone else rushed to the caravan.  Most of the goods were missing.  One of the guards found tge rogue and accused him of having stolen then, but Fhreyd replied that he'd seen Quillboar taking them and scattering.

Etiainen and Thorren spotted tracks which lent strength to Fhreyd's story, but with Brim and Yshara still after the raptors they'd have to wait.  It wasn't long, though.  The raptors had vanished and tge pair returned to camp.  Brim immediately agreed to track the Quillboar.

As Etiainen and Brim led the way following the tracks, the party set to some arguing.  Zulfi'shi insulted Etiainen and then questioned Urist.  Brim defended his brother as Thorren chastized Etiainen for not giving the others a chance, angering his apprentice.

After some walking, the group arrived at Razor Fen Downs, home of the nearest Quillboar clan.  Once there, the Quillboar threatened the team and claimed rights over the stolen, and unguarded, goods.  Yshara used her memories of Agamaggon to get the Quillboar to hear the party out and Thorren, Yshara, and Brim spoke at length to convince the Quillboar that handing over the goods might be in their best interests.

All of this discussion convinces the Quillboar to allow the adventurerers to speak with their chieftess, named Negara.  In that conversation, Thorren advocated for the Quillboar to petition to join the newly forming League of Kalimdor.  His suggestion is that the Quillboar cede control of the Gold Road, and defend against attacks upon it, in return for status as a member of the League and protection of the territorial boarders around their Razor Fens.

Negara questions Thorren's ability to convince his superiors of this agreement, but also recognized that as a Tauren and a member of the Earthen Ring, Thorren would stand by his word.  Negara had her shamans summon up an earth elemental to make the agreement binding, with the added caveat that Thorren return to defend the Quillboar's territory should the League rebuff the Quillboar's offer.

Etiainen, still irritated with her team and Thorren, set out back to camp to let the caravan guards know that the Quillboar would be returning the stolen supplies.  Thorren noticed her departure and sent his air elemental ally, Nilch'i, to follow her. The rest of the party dispersed to converse with the Quillboar, rest, and load the carts for return to the caravan.

Yshara gathered a large pack of young Quillboar, whom she regaled with stories of Agamaggon and his role in the War of the Ancients.  The Lightbrew brothers introduced their ale to the Quillboar, who loved it.  This led the Quillboar to ask Thorren to leave them behind, but yhe Tauren said he still needed Brim and Urist.

Thorren was also told of a Scourge take over of Razor Fen Downs, leading to Urist being called in.  The Dwarf Paladin suggested that he needed to inform Orgrimmar and call back a large army to stage an attack on the infected Razor Fen.  Meanwhile, Fhreyd, had heard of the Quillboar interest in Brim and Urist and had begun plotting a way to both irritate the Dwarves and placate the Quillboar...

Demigods in a showdown!

Scion was heading into a hiatus, but there was still the issue of a mad swordsmith to deal with first.

The Hestia reconvened and asked to be shown to Masamune.  Instead we were delivered to a man named Shiro Yatsamura and asked to turn over oir weapons.  Though concerned about it, the team agreed, with Leander turning over his spear despite it being transformed into a belt buckle.  Yatsamura, though, was definitely armed with chained kama attached to his belt.

He suggested to the Hestia that it was wise we had decided to turn ourselves in, but Brock and Jessica quickly corrected him.  William and Leander laid out what they'd known of Muramasa's plans, including the ingredients he'd had the Hestia gather.  Yatsamura was immediately and obviously concerned, which prompted Leander to offer to draw the plans he'd seen and memorized while in Muramasa's workshop.

Leander drew up the plans and quickly the military commander and the Hestia reached an agreement to assault Muramasa's workshop and its Titan-sympathetic inhabitants.  Masamune arrived and beganto look over the plans, preparing countermeasures.  That done, the Hestia led the military forces to the workshop.

Rivkah quickly retrieved Nick, but not his gremlins, using a few quick excuses to get the Scion of Hermes out.  The Hestia quickly formed into three teams.  Rivkah, Jessica, and Brock would provide the frontal assault.  Lha-mo would attack from above, hoping to smash her way to the plans and artifacts.  Leander, Nick, and William, with their ability to bypass walls and doors would stealthily approach from the rear, avoiding the probable bulk of the fighting in their approach to the artifacts they'd gathered.

The assault began and the military forces quickly drew out Muramasa's Titan-sworn.  Rivkah's team travelled just ahead of them, smashing through the gates and straight in the front door of the workshop as the forces inside streamed out to meet the attack.  Lha-mo flew high above the building and dropped, growing in size as she descended, until she crashed mightily through the roof and into the central chambers of the workshop.  Leander's team had even fewer obstacles, approaching unseen and blinking through the walls and doors in their path.

From there it seemed to be a fairly straightforward snatch and dash.  The team gathered what they'd given Muramasa, meddled with his charts and diagrams and moved to leave.  Rivkah went up through the hole Lha-mo had made.  Leander used his ability to step through walls to pull Nick and Jessica out.  Brock, Lha-mo, and William began a climb outwards.  William was last and almost clear when Muramasa crashed into the scene in his giant mecha suit.

Unfortunately for him, the rest of the team hadn't gotten very far, meaning Nick's gremlin sidekicks hadn't gone far. At a word from Nick, the descended upon the suit, quickly disabling it.  The Demigods retreated as the military forces washed over the workshop.

In the quiet moment they had, the Demigods decided to hide the items they'd gathered in the pouch (with ship!) at Leander's belt.  That achieved, the returned to Masamune 's workshop to retrieve the armor the master smith had forged them.  Fully equipped, it was time to go after the God of the Last Whisper, the nascent Titan of radiation.

The Demigods took flight on Tak Me, scouting until they'd found a large square with an immense thrown filled with throngs of worshipful radiation ghosts.  There sat the new Titan.  The Hestia landed on a nearby skyscraper to talk over their plan.

In the end, the simple plan seemed best.  Brock and Nick would fire down into the crowd, thinning them while the rest of the team headed for the God of the Last Breath.  Leander would direct traffic as Rivkah and Lha-mo hit him with everything they had.  Jessica, William, and Tak Me would pitch in wherever they could.

They sprang into action.  Brock's first shot was a well-chosen one, wiping out a third of the Titanling's forces in an instant.  Rivkah dove off the building, carrying Leander.  She flew at high speed , dropping her compatriot into a crowd where he impaled on of the radiation ghost as she smashed through the huge stone throne.

Lha-mo landed just after them, having grown to immense size.  Her icy claws tore into the God of the Last Breath.  Nick took his shot, scoring a hit, and Tak Me let Jessica aboard and flew down.

The timing was just right as the young Titan launched an assault back into the sky scraper, bringing it tumbling down.  Nick leapt off, much to everyone's dismay as he seemed to have no plan of descent.  Meanwhile Brock jumped to another building, ready to resume his firing.

Rivkah used the God of the Last Breath's diverted focus to grab him and smash her knee into his tailbone.  Jessica followed that up, using her apples to distract him as William lashed out with his scarf (though missing) and Lha-mo sunk icicle claws into his face.  Meanwhile, Tak Me caught the plummeting Nick as if they'd had it planned.

Sensing his opening, Leander called forth thunder to echo his voice, his orders rumbling through the caverns of the underworld.  The team quickly capitalized.  Lha-mo sent crossing walls of ice slashing towards the Titanling.  Leander darted in, slashing at one knee as William closed and wrapped the young Titan's arm in his scarf.  The Hod of the last Breath struggled to be free, but it was too late.

Rivkah, taking those openings and the distraction probided by Jessica, to smash down the Titan's knee.  He dropped to a knee and Rivkah smashed a lightning wrapped fist into his head.  The Titanling was down for the count and the demigods dropped the nearby environs on him, seemingly ending his threat.

Next the Hestia would need to pay their debt to Agwe...

WoWFate: I'm On A Boat

After having completed repairs to the ship and setting off again fron the Murloc-infested island, the travellers landed at Northwatch Hold, near the Tauren village of Taurajo. Upon docking, Brim hurridly rushed off the boat stopping near the guardhouse at the edge of the dock.

Yshara was close behind, walking regally down the gangplank and introducing herself to the guards.  Urist, ever-cautious, followed, keeping a careful eye out. 

Yshara quickly struck up a conversation with a Night Elf guardsman who she initially confused for a guardswoman, much to his embarassment.  Zulfi'shi also headed down the ramp and after a short conversation, Thorren and Etiainen also disembarked.

They passed the guardhouse, heading for the magistrate, who was further down.  He was quite rude, making disparaging remarks about almost everyone before curtly leading everyone to the town hall, where the meeting was set to be held.  The meeting was set to begin in about 30 minutes, leaving everyone time to get settled in.

Most of the party went alone to their rooms, but Etiainen accompanied Thorren to his.  They discussed the need for Etiainen to try and overcone her distaste abd distrust of other people, with no strong resolution being found.

Shortly thereafter a page arrived to each room, summoning the collected adventurers to the meeting hall.  Therin were collected a number of important dignitaries, including Thrall, Jaina Proudmore, Hamuul Runetotem, and Malfurion Stormrage.  The greeted the heroes, who returned the greeting with the respect and awe due the leaders.

Thorren was the main speaker for the Horde adveturers, greeting the Warchief with the phrase "awaihilo ich porah," meaning strength and honor.  The great leaders of Kalimdor laid out the broader mission: ease tension between the Kaldorei and Orcs by ceasing lumbering in Ashenvale.  In return, the Night Elves would cede Fel Fire Hill to the Orcs to lumber.  The gathered adventurers would facilitate this by surveying Fel Fire Hill, gathering intelligence on the inhabiting demons, and reporting back to General Saurfang, who was overseeing the military actions.  This would lead to a concerted effort to purge the Fel taint from the area.

Etiainen and Thorren discussed ways to do this, and asked Thrall and Hamuul's advice.  A few other questions about the region gained the party a sense of the tension that was building in the area and the disposition of Silverwing Lodge and the Warsong Clan in the area.  Everyone signed on to the task and we were informed that the group would make the first part of their trip escorting a caravan from Northwatch Hold to the Crossroads.

Once the meeting had ended, the party tenporarily dispersed but all ended up at the tavern.  Brim, naturally, immediately set to drinking.  The patrons of the bar seemed to universally agree that his family's lightbrew was unappealing and "tasted like piss."  Thorren, having been part of the teams organized by Rexxar, Vol'jin, Rohkkan, and Chen to find Baine Bloodhoof when he was kidnapped, asked after Stormstout Brew, and was pleasantly surprised to find the inn had it. Etiainen, for her part, was uncomfortable in the tavern but unwilling to part from Thorren.

Zulfi'shi, for her part, ordered "something special" and the bartender brought her a Noggenfogger Ale.  As she drank it, she slowly transformed to appear as a skeleton.  Which was not for the best, as Urist saw her and had a flashback to the Scourge invasion. Brim managed to calm him, though, by pointing out the Troll's transformation was cause by the brew and temporary.  A little redirection towards the idea of fresh brewing some Lightbrew didn't hurt, either.

With Urist calm again, Yshara and Brim tried to sit and make friends Thorren and Etiainen, but the Tauren's preference for Stormstout Brew over Lightbrew and the Troll's preference for "not people" prevented much success on that front.  Offended, Brim enlisted Urist to make a fresh batch of Lightbrew. They set to furious work, but it took them so long that everyone else had headed back to the inn before they coukd try the batch.

WoWFate: I Am Murloc

The various individuals assigned to a mysterious mission for the nascent League of Kalimdor boarded a ship headed south.  Yshara the Nightelf Druid was first, in Darnassus.  Thorren, Tauren Shaman, and Etainen, his Troll apprentice, boarded in Orgrimmar.  Brim and Eurist Lightbrew, Dwarven brothers, joined them in Theramore.  They were making good time before being run aground on a small island.

As the crew of the ship made repairs a varitable army of Murlocs advanced on them and the heroic passengers set to the defense.  Thorren, ever vigilant, struck first, but the Murlocs dodged away from his blast of lightning.

Etainen reacted quickly, though, placing an earthbind totem down to slow one of the Murloc packs and followed that by drawing the moisture from their skin, weakening them.

Transformed into a savage bear, Yshara took a surprising tactic, dancing to stupify one of the Murloc packs closing on her.  Brim capitalized by shooting one of the Murlocs in its spear-toting hand, but the blast was so powerful that it incapacitated the amphibious threat.  His pet bear, Parker, waded into the fray chomping on Murlocs left and right.  Eurist placed shields on the other heroes, helping them withstand attacks.

For a moment, it looked like the Murlocs might overwhelm the boat.  Thorren took two massive cuts and Brim was beaten.  Etainen and Eurost worked to heal them as Yshara slammed into several other Murlocs.  Thorren used his immense Tauren size to stomp on the ground, stunning a number of Myrlics who Etainen finished off by dessication.  Eurist layed another shield on his brother and Brim and Parker finished off another pack of Murlocs.

The Murlocs turned and ran as a Sea Giant rose from the nearby ocean.  Unfortunately for the giant, the heroes had finally hit their stride.  Brim put several rounds into him, followed by a lightning bolt from Thorren and the coup de grace consisting of an icy spear through the neck by Etainen.  The giant fell and the journey to the rondevous could continue.

Terminus 12.8.13 Grand Finale Part 2!

The next room Room down, the final one before the Forge Room, held a blue and a purple Beholder.  Meggido quickly moved i to a defensive position, taking advantage of Sardis teleporting then backwards.  Vallo healed Adah-kah and the fight was on.

Unfortunately for the Beholders, it wasn't destined to be a long one.  Unleashing her fury, Sabriel annihilated tge purple Beholder.  Adah-kah slashed at the blue Beholder, beginning a torrent of attacks that left the eyebeast bleeding on the floor.  It was time for the last drop to the Forge Room.

The room seemed calm, but quickly an array of Beholders appeared!

The fight begun with Vallo pushing his teammates deeper into the room.  Maggido capitalized on this by drawing a big chunk of the Beholders to himself, keeping them from free movement.  Sardis immobilized another large chubk of the Beholders, meaning the No Pants Brigade had far more range of motion than their foes.

Adah-kah used that fact to dart in and launch a psychic assault on several of the Beholders, staggering them.  Sardis teleported the few Beholders not already pinned further away as Meggido pushed towards the largest Beholder, their apparent leader.

Sabriel used her wings and strength to smash into the blue and white Beholders.  At nearly the same moment, Meggido reacher the leader and engaged him.  The leader tried to fire back at Sabriel, but missed badly.

Vallo, having been preparing for this fight, laid out several bursts of fire from his crossbow, killing several of the lesser Beholders and gravely wounding the blue, white, and brown Beholders.

But now it was the Beholders' turn to strike.  They blasted the party, causing some damage, but nothing debilitating.  One of the lesser Beholders attacked and missed Adah-kah, who charged him in return and then flung another nearby Beholder into the Forge Fire.

Sardis, sensing the end of the long quest nearing, summoned her ensorceled succubus and commanded it to dominate the brown Beholder.  It successfully did so, temporarily eliminating a threat.  Then the succubus directed the brown Beholder closer to the leader.  Once there, it bit at its leader, scoring superficial damage.

Sabriel used the distraction to send a blast into both Beholders.  Unfortunately turnabout was fairplay and Meggido was forced to hit Sabriel, bloodying her, while she felt compelled to defend the Beholders.

Vallo took charge and sent a devestating blow into the lead Beholder and Adah-kah landed his own massive blow on the brown Beholder, finishing it off.  Temporarily at her own direction, the succubus killed one of the lesser Beholders.  Sardis damaged the leader further as Sabriel shook off the mind control.

The lead Beholder shifted Adah-kah slightly, then sent eye-rays into Meggido and the Nekhanj.  Adah-kah responded in kind, slashing at the Beholder.  Free to choose her own path again, the Succubus lashed out at another lesser Beholder... And Sardis, who went down in a heap.

Perhaps sensing an opportunity, the leader tried to shove everyone away, but only managed to move Meggido and temporarily weaken Sabriel.  He followed up by trying to freeze Sabriel and Sardis. Unfortunately for him, this didn't phase Sabriel, who shoved him at Meggido.  He countered, though bu shoving Meggido into the Forge Fire!

Being Warforged, Meggido passed through mostly unharmed, but it gave the party a brief scare.  Adah-kah teleported into range, stabbing at the unprepared Beholder.  Vallo launched a psychic assault to follow up and enraged the Beholder.  Moments later, Adah-kah, Meggido, and Sabriel teamed to bring the beast down, leaving the party alone with the Forge Fire.

The whine and shift in the Forge Fire's size the party had previously deduced was the sign of something coming through the rift.  Adah-kah, near the Fire had to dodge away as something immense crossed over.

Meggido, undaunted, siezed the momentary lull to place the linkage device onto the Forge Fire.  It immediately began to glow, seeming to steal a bit of vitality from Meggido.  Instinctively, the Warforged knew his life force had been bound to the device.  And in that moment it clamped into place, first charging off the interdimensional energies of the Forge Fire and then sealing them away.

Meanwhile, Adah-kah worked to stabilize Sardis while Sabriel covered them, and Vallo, against a few straggling Beholders. Vallo completed a healing spell and Sardis regained his feet, quickly looking to gather all the information he could about the situation.  In that moment the device finished its task, flying free of the former location of the Forge Fire, which had fallen silent.

And through the damaged Forge, the heroes could finally see the thing that had come through the Fire at the very end.  It was a Beholder the size of a city, which had yet to notice them as it crashed through the damaged home of the Warforged.  The No Pants Brigade fled the building lest it be dropped atop them.

As they regained their eagle mounts, they saw that the Beholder had become fixated on an approaching object, which appeared to be a cloudbank around a solid mass.  The heroes had saved the world from the threat of invasion but the mysteries in it had not all been solved...

Demigods in the Yakuza!

Other posts on Scion and Leander.  Last recap.

At the end of the last session, the Void had retreated into the darkness to try and regroup from the onslaught of the Hestia.  His respite didn't last long, though, as Tak Me but him and dragged him back out of the shadows.

Rivkah, William and Lha Mo quickly capitalized on the opening and struck out at the servant of Mikaboshi.  Jessica mocked him mercilously.  Leander calculated his next likely attack, but the Void staggered his strike to try and avoid it.

That threw off the coordinated assault, but Brock was undaunted and still managed to put a bolt of sunlight into his foe.  Lha Mo took the moment to heal Jessica, who had been wounded in the last exchange.  The Void, and his minions, traded attacks with the Hestoa while Jessica took a moment to heal Leander.  Leander managed to guess the Void's plot and directed a new assault.

While waiting for the Void to reappear, the Demigods cleared up a few of the villain's minions as Leander and Tak Me prepared their defenses.  Lha Mo took the oppprtunity to further heal Leander.

The Void emerged as a giant hand, but the band was ready for him and launched their own attack.  Tak me bit him again, pinning him down as Lha Mo put a powerful punch into the Void's body.  Rivkah added a leaping punch as William lashed out with Foecutter.  Jessica twisted fate and used her apples to distract the Void's minions.

The team got another set of blows in against the Void who vanished for an extremely long time.  When he returned, he forced Lha Mo to protect him.  She was compelled to do so, but the Void quickly formed a whirlpool of shadow, disappearing back into the body of Mikaboshi.  As he did, he told the Hestia that he had been ordered to leave behind a skull as evidence of his defeat.  The Demigods took it reluctantly and mae sure to search the rest of the cave before heading back to the Market.

There they were quickly rounded up by the Yakuza and taken back to the tower headquarters.  The team hurried to discuss their plans of what to tell the ancient ghost they'd met before, revealing more of their secrets to Jessica in the process.  They settled on trying not to lie while not revealing their connection to the demands of Kane Taoka.

The talk began that way, but the ancient ghost used his ability to talk to objects to interrogate the skull, who confirmed that the band had defeated the Void.  It winked over the shoulder of the Yakuza leader at the Hestia, who quickly decided to tell the ancient ghost of the skull's treachery, despite the potential risk to the band.  In the end, the ancient ghost decided to award the Hestia the Ghost of Little Boy as per their bargain.  The Demigods disguised it as garbage and took it back to Muramasa, along with the Flame of Kagatsuki.  Muramasa was very pleased, saying that with what the Hestia had returned with he could make his weapon "even more destructive."

With his knowledge of Muramasa, this set off alarm bells in Leander's head.  He shared that worry with his fellow Demigods and they made hushed and hurried plans to find Masamune, who was renowned for blades which would only cut what must be cut, to try and make an alternative weapon.  Nick was asked to remain behind with his gremlins to distract and slow Muramasa's progress...

Demigods in the Black Market!

Other posts on Scion and Leander.  Last recap.

Having completed the first stage of the quest to find the materials to forge a weapon to kill the nascent Titan, the Demigods made plans to check back with the shopkeeper, and his granddaughter, about what the team could expect in the trade district.  He, with much disapproval from his granddaughter, informed the team of what he knew of the trade district and mentioned that he had heard that the Yakuza had many rare goods they kept safeguarded.

Satisfied, the Hestia climbed aboard Tak Me and flew to the trade district.  The moved through the streets looking for any obvious Yakuza and rather brazenly asking passsersby where we could find them.  That quickly resulted in the team being surrounded by members of the Yakuza and directed to a nearby alley.

Once there, the Hestia informed these low level Yakuza that they wanted the ghost of little boy.  The goons were briefly hesitant, but the smooth words of Nick, Brock, and Jessica managed to sway them and they arranged to take the Demigods to the Yakuza's tower headquarters.

Being ushered to the top of the tower, the Demigods were introduced to an ancient and powerful yakuza ghost, who appeared to be the head of their organization in Yomi and implied some ability to step into any power vacuum that might arise in the underworld.  In the negotiations for little boy, the team made a fortuitous statement in voicing their distaste for the servants of Mikaboshi (despite the arrangement with Kane), and mentioned their previous fight with Titan cultists in Yomi.

That drew a response from the ancient ghost that the team was in the right mindset for the task the Yakuza would require of them to gain access to the ghost of Little Boy.  The Hestia were to face down the general of Mikaboshi in Yomi.  The ancient ghost provided transportation in rickshaws to a cave on the far side of the mountain where the Demigods had previously met with the Dark Mother.

Leander, using his powerful relic glasses, saw through the illusion the general had placed on his lair.  There was a deep cave with intensely dark tunnels.  These tunnels were quickly revealed to be magically darkened, much like the warehouse the Demigods had previously fought in, as no one could see despite their divine talents.

Brock, not willing to let this stop the team, began to glow with a brilliant light which allowed some vision, though it was far less powerful than it should have been.  Leander, not sure he could feel comfortable with that source of light as the only one, used his glasses to "see" via sonar.  Inspired, William stomped a foot on the floor and felt the echos in the earth which revealed to him the layout of the deep cave.  There were several large chambers in either direction and the team decided to move towards the right fork.

In the very first large chamber down that fork, an ambush was sprung.  Dark figures, nearly invisible in the dark, struck from all directions at the Demigods and the team was pushed to defend themselves.  Certain that the fight in the warehouse was related to events in the tunnels, Leander set out to find Mikaboshi's rune which powered the darkness.

Meanwhile, Brock was hit incredibly hard, knocking him back and creating a sprinkling of bright light.  Lha mo, for her part, grew to immense size and scratched at the walls and ceiling, ripping the rune of Mikaboshi on the cave roof to shreds.  Suddenly, light filled the space.

Jessica, ready to do her part, tossed a glowing, golden apple into the room.  Suddenly, the inky creatures that had been attacking the team were drawn to it, scrabbling and fighting one another in their attempt to gain control of it.  One of them managed to actually eat its fellow, but its victory was short lived as Rivkah smashed it through the floor.  The final inky being was similar squashed by Lha Mo.
one eats the other and then rivkah punches the other one into the ground.

Pushing forward, deeper into the tunnels, the team found ornate doors, seemingly sealing out the light.  The general of Mikaboshi, calling himself "The Void," beckoned the Hestia to enter.  The Hestia opened the doors, readying themselves for combat, and stepped inside.  He briefly tried to bargain, but the team informed him they were here to put him down.  As Brock shot at The Void to act on the threat, the shadows spread, dropping the room into darkness.

From that darkness, The Void punched at Brock, but missed and smashed into the floor.  Lha Mo grew once more, filling much of the room.  Brock shot at the darkness, but The Void had vanished back into the shadows clinging to the walls.  A moment later, as Leander calculated and the team tried to track their foe, The Void sent a spear of dark matter shooting down at Brock.  Rivkah dove into the way, deflecting the attack as Brock dodged away.

Suddenly inky minions jumped into the fray, the first among them leaping onto Rivkah, who spun and smashed it to the ground.  Another minion launched into Jessica, who shed her skin in absorbing its attack.  A third attacked Leander, who swatted it casually away as he barked orders to his compatriots.  Jessica, sensing a place to insert her powerful speaking skills, distracted The Void and the team launched their attack.

Brock fired a shot into the heart of the darkness, with a mighty swing of Foecutter by William and a rocky fist from Rivkah accompanying it.  Leander missed, but most of the attacks hit, doing damage to The Void, who disappeared into the darkness to regroup.

Demigods in the Harbor

Other posts on Scion and Leander.  Last recap.

Seeing that they were flying into certain death thanks to his glasses, Leander told Rivkah to turn the plane around.  She began to do so, but suddenly the plane was struck with mechanical issues. Nick and Brock noticed something scuttling about on the plane, and the occult knowledgable members if the group realized they were probably Gremlins given that this was a WWII era plane.

Rivkah managed to get the plane back into the defensive areas outside the Poison Sun Ward.  Unfortunately, the plane was still going down.  Rivkah did her best to slow the descent, but Brock decided to bail out, using his divine abilities to reach the ground stealthily and safely.  With a boost from TaK Me, Rivkah got the plane down with everyone in one piece.

After a moment, the Gremlins emerged, spotted by the eyes of a few in the Hestia.  Nick quickly befriended them and they crowded about their apparent new leader.  Almost immediately after that was resolved, several Japanese military officials arrived.  These individuals called the Demigods foolish for almost attempting to enter the Ward without protection, and then suggested the Demigods hurry and follow them to others who sought to strike into the Poison Sun Ward.

Leander signalled to the still-hidden Brock, whom one of the soldiers declared a great love of.  The group descended into a tunnel system, which may have been the sewer, and eventually came to an underground complex.  The team was led to a room and asked to wait.

After a short time, they were informed that another of their band had arrived.  Confused, they asked for this person to be shown in.  It turned out to be a beautiful Demigoddess.  She introduced herself as Jessica and suggested that she had come after a new portion of the prophecy had been revealed.  She also revealed her heritage as a daughter of Aphrodite.  At first, she was suspicious of Lha Mo, but the explanations of the other demigods managed to keep things civil.

After a time, the soldiers returned and explained that their intention was to aid the demigods in their strike, as they were part of a faction that disagreed with the decree that the Ward was off limits.  To that end, they were crafting a weapon and defensive gear.  That said, they introduced the team to the weapon maker... Muramasa!

While most of the group was unimpressed, William and Leander knew this was a big deal. Muramasa requested the Demigods retrieve four difficult to obtain items for him so he could create his weapon that could kill the God of the Last Breath.  First would be the Flame of Katagumi, which was within a giant carp in the harbor.  Second was a scrap of iron from the wall holding the Poison Sun Ward.  Third was the blood of a pure dynast.  And fourth would be the Ghost of Little Boy, created when the bomb fell on Hiroshima, which was rumored to be held by the Yakuza in the Great Market.

The Band, as was in character, headed directly to the Harbor, avoiding the small towns nearby.  They'd discovered, just before they left, that there were Ningyo in the Harbor which worshiped the great carp, and prepared for the potential of a fight.  Tak Me, who had spoken to Jessica, introducing himself and shocking the Hestia, flew the team to the Harbor, but there was no clear way to reach the carp once they'd arrived.  As a result, they asked Tak Me to fly them back to the Harbor towns, much to the yak's consternation.

The team began their search for information at the library, looking for information on the Ningyo and the carp.  They also checked on ways in which they could reach the carp's preferred swimming depth.  After a time, they moved on to a nearby shrine where they encountered the spirit of a deceased Scion who flirted with Brock a bit before directing the team to a nearby salvage yard where the owner was a frequent diver and collector of submerged artifacts.

With some flirting (to the consternation of the show owner's granddaughter!) by Jessica and a promise loot from William, the shop owner allowed the team to take three suits for Leander, Jessica, and Brock so that they could survive the depths where the carp lived.  Not wanting to waste time, the Hestia moved back to the waters and dove down deep.

After a time, they began to hear what seemed like singing.  It was the Ningyo going about their daily prayers and communicating with one another.  William used his skill with spoken language to translate and Brock used his newly developed singing ability, aided by  Nick's ability to call forth music, to introduce us as children of Hestia and therefore related to the carp's progenitor, who had become an avatar of Muspelheim.  The Ningyo agreed to take us to their leader.

Once there, the Ningyo tried to deny the Hestia access to the carp and hinted that they did not believe our story, flashing aspects of sharks in fleeting glimpses.  Brock had a mighty plan, though, and cut himself, focusing his divine heritage and the gifts of Hestia to cause his blood to ignite into brilliant flame underwater, fully convincing the Ningyo leader and shocking Jessica, who had had no idea that Hestia had blessed the others in the band.  The team was granted access and descended to the carp's domain.

Finding the carp was relatively easy given the fact that it glowed a fiery red in the dark ocean.  It seemed not to notice the band at first, so Lha Mo attempted pulling a scale off covertly.  When that failed, Nick tried talking to the fish and ordering it to give him an audience, but the creature had no sentience and so couldn't communicate it.  The problem was solved, though, when Jessica and Brock, at Leander's suggestion, gazed deeply into the fish's eyes, mesmerizing it.  Leander then directed the rest of the team to work together to cut off the tip of one of the carp's fins, with Rivkah hurling William to Lha Mo who caught him and redirected him so that he could strike with Foecutter.  Nick, deft of hand, caught the fallen fin.

Not quite sure if that would be enough, Lha Mo also swam inside the incapacitated fish's mouth and took a vial of blood.  William scooped up some nearby salvage and it was time to head back to the surface.

Terminus 11.24.14

When last we saw the No Pants Brigade, they were on a boat sailing around the main undead force on Celton.  The sea voyage was going mostly smoothly until we were attacked by a ship towed by a Beholder and manned by a group of headless yellow ghosts.

Fortunately, as is often the case, Vallo struck first.  He scored a solid hit and was able to launch Meggido onto the other boat.  Sabriel followed that up by spewing acid onto the enemy.

Meggido, true to his nature, quickly arranged the enemy into a postion where he could limit their movement.

Adah-kah, who had been holding his discomfort around water in, missed his next attack because he was more focused on moving safely than the attack.  Then the counter attack was on. The yellow ghosts tried to strike back, with one stabbing Sabriel.

The big damage came from the Beholder, though, who used his eye beams to attack everyone, including the crew of the ship transporting our heroes.  Charlie, a lesser crewman died in the assault and quickly rose as an undead horror.  He bit at Adah-kah and caused the Nekhanj to have a festering wound.

But the team had a secret weapon. Cornered and having grown into the adventures with his friends, Sardis unleashed a powerful magical assault, driving back his foes!

Unfortunately that paved the way for a disgusting swarm of secered heads, clearly seperated from the headless crew which had been the first wave of the assault.

Vallo and Sabriel were not phased, though, striking out to score big hits on the enemies.  Meggido reasserted his dominance, locking down the movement of the assorted creatures.  Having recovered his balance, Adah-kah joined the fray and delivered a big blow of his own!

The ghosts piled on to Adah-kah and Meggido, but the melee combatants were undeterred.  Sardis backed them up by firing an icy blast which rearranged the attackers.  Vallo used the moment to strengthen the resolve of Meggido and Adah-kah.

Sabriel viciously struck at the Beholder and the swarm of heads, which didn't work out as well as expected as the Beholder exploded in response, injuring the combatants.  Meggido quickly adjusted his positioning to stay in betweenhis teammates and the shifting threats.

Adah-kah, irritatedat having been bitten, crushed the risen Charlie and plannedto move on to another foe, but they had been cleared from the decks by his compatriots.  Quickly, the team inspected the enemy ship and then allowed it to sink, setting out once more to find a way to attack the Undead from behind.

It was smooth sailing for about another week until a large mass was spotted off to port.  Adah-kah usedhis keen eye to make out the features of the Forge!  The No Pants Brigade had inadvertantly found the portal the Beholders had been using to enter the world before the outsiders could drag it ashore.

Quickly the team formulated a plan to assault the Forge with the intent of speeding through the building to reach the Forge Fire and charge the device we'd assembled.  Once that was accomplished, an attempt would be made to cap the fire and close the portal.  To help in this, Vallo planned to summon great eagles which cpuld allow our boat to stay at a distance while we made our attack.

Quickly, we put the plan into action, taking to the sky and landing very near to one of the doors to the Forge. Several Beholders waited there and they managed to score a hit on Meggido and Sabriel as we landed.  They missed Adah-kah, but did manage to trip him up as Meggido bullied them into the positioning he found favorable.

Undaunted, Adah-kah lept to his feet and charged the Beholders, returning their attacks.  One of the Beholders, dubbed a Blood Kiss, managed to daze the party, but missed in directly attacking Adah-kah before hitting Meggido softly.

The Beholder tried to instill fear in Sardis, but shockingly, Sardis charged into the fray and magically coerced the Beholders to move to his liking.  Meggido used the opening to push closer to the doorway.

The Beholders made an attempt to blind Sabriel, but she struck back at them, causing them to retreat in fear.  The flaming Beholder tried to move back in and their reinforcements arrived.  It was too late, though, as the No Pants Brigade was already pushing their advatage.

Meggido slid the Bloodkiss Beholder out of the way, giving Adah-kah an opening to slay the flaming Beholder.  Vallo, Sabriel, and Sardis quickly added their own assaults, killing most of the smaller Beholders and further wounding the Bloodkiss.

The Beholder, having seen Adah-kah's assault on its ally, tried to use its eyes to stun the Avenger, but every attempt failed against the Nekhanj's iron will.  Sardis used the distraction to score a staggering blow and Vallo followed up with a daring strike of his own.

Meggido stepped in with his own major assault and bloodied the Beholder heavily.  The creature responded by lashing out wildly at the party, but couldn't stop Adah-kah from circling around to cit into him deeply.  Sardis and Vallo added further injury and Meggido and Adah-kah struck again one after another to send the Bloodkiss crashing to the ground in death.  And then it was time to enter the Forge proper...

Leander: Gear Journey

Generally my Scion characters tend to start off with a lot of Birthrights based on the legends of heroes and gods in the same pantheon.  Often this results in a lot of Birthrights named after those figures.  For Leander, this resulted in things such as the Armor of Odysseus, Shield of El Cid, a spear called the Pallas Lonchi.

Other times, failing a similar story, I'll simply rely on translation.  In Leander's case, this ended up as the Taktiki Michani (tactical machine).  Other items, such as the glasses Leander got, have similar naming schemes (Iaptah, in this case).

But as Leander's legend grows it seems appropriate that the items he carries become more about who he is and less about who he was empowered by.  Leander uses his spear as a tool more often than not, using it to signal and gesture.  So as his power grows it's only fitting that it transitions from being named for his mother to being about what it is for Leander.  The best translation to transliterated Greek I can find for this is Tha Strati̱gós Tou, meaning "Strategist's Will."  The spear has become the extension of Leander's ideas and needs and the new name of it reflects the way in which others see it.

Similarly the Iaptah and Taktiki Michani, as well as the lock of illusion-cutting hair and mana-bead of the Atua, will eventually transition.  They'll become the four pieces of a Corinthian-style helmet.  The lock of hair will be the crest of the helm.  The Iaptah (renamed Warrior's Vigilance), will be a clear shield for the opening of the helm.  The Taktiki Michani will become the main piece of the helmet, though still able to become the iPad it once was, and be renamed the Defender's Codex.  The mana-bead will be relatively unchanged, but will sit at the center of the helm's forehead.  My intention is that each of the pieces could still separate and work, but that this Leander's preferred form of wear for them so that he can have quick access to them all.

I think Leander would make it well known that he was not the first to carry the Armor of Odysseus and Shield of El Cid, but would work to make it clear that he carries them and continues to use those names in order to honor the warriors he respects and used as inspirations for his own strategic style.

Hopefully, this will help make it more clear why each of these items are important to Leander's legend while still allowing him to honor his heritage.

Some Musically Inclined Thoughts On Leander

Initially inspired by this post over on John's Scion Resources (which is a GREAT site to check out if you're playing Scion).

In thinking about music for Leander (and by extension Malena), I came up with a few things that would fit him pretty well and provide some insights.  One song that came to mind pretty quickly was AC/DC's Hail Caesar.  The lyrics remind me a lot of the potential intrigue happening behind the scenes for Leander with him being distrusted by Zeus.  After all, he's a piece of Athena... A male piece, which was also born of Zeus.  Which just might make him as much Metis' son as Athena's, and that might make him the son prophesied to overthrow Zeus the way Zeus overthrew his father.  Which Zeus is decidedly against.

Another clear choice for Leander is the Hyperion Overture from StarCraft II (well, more appropriately, from the trailers for StarCraft II).  It nods back to his hobbies and his strategic leanings.  It also has a rather triumphal and mythic feel to it, which is definitely more where Leander leans a lot of the time, given he's been on Olympus or acting as an agent of the Gods for a while.  I also think it has some tragic notes, which probably also fit well with Leander.

Madonna's Like A Virgin is also on the list.  If you've read the interaction between Leander and Malena, this is a fairly self-explanatory selection.

Celldweller's Hyperion fits pretty well, I think, with the battle between the Scions and Fafnir, with segments that match up with the different phases of the fight.  Similarly, Celldweller's Jupiter fits pretty well for those situations in which Leander steps up from the back lines and suddenly puts a lot of damage into someone.  It's rare, but the build in the music seems to fit so well with him suddenly blurring into action.

For Malena and Leander's relationship, I'd use Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's White Sandy Beach of Hawaii.  The lyrics speak of soothing dreams of a loved one, which I think is pretty much where Leander is at in that relationship right now.  I think Malena would probably be amused that I think the song that would work for her is Meredith Brooks' Bitch.  While I don't think of her as a stereotypical "bitch," I think her outspoken and forceful nature could easily get interpreted that way.  And she's rarely regretful or ashamed, but she's also very caring and kind when it's appropriate.

The game's theme song has long been the Russian cover of Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas, so both versions need to rate on this list.

Systems I Love: Fate Core

This probably feels like it's been a long time coming, if you've read things here.  I gushed about Fate Core's Kickstarter.  And then the Fate Dice Kickstarter.  I made myself in Fate Core after I got the PDF.  I redesigned a past DnD character for a now upcoming Warcraft Fate Core Hack and updated my previous Fate Supernatural Hack and Fate Rifts Hack characters.  My group played a one-shot Fate Core Pacific Rim Hack.  I raved about my love for my Fate Dice.  I think it's no real secret that Fate is my favorite system right now and that Fate Core's release has been a big deal for me and my group.  But I've been slow to review it.

Yeah, no one has a better cover than this.

That's mostly because I've been waiting until we were actually playing Fate Core on a regular basis to do so.  We haven't gotten there yet, as Scion is still finishing up.  But we've begun work on our Warcraft game, which will be in Fate Core and now everyone is right in the midst of going through the book to build their characters (and Evil Hat started up the Evil Hat Street Team).  Which brings me to my first major point about the Fate Core book:  it is beautifully laid out.

I'm not sure this is a fact that will get enough attention.  Fate Core is perhaps the best laid out RPG book of all time and definitely the best laid out I own (so shoutout to Jeremy Keller for fantastic work).  This is for two main reasons.  First, the book is easy to flip through quickly to find material.  This is because sections of material are logically and simply named as well as laid out in the order in which players and GM's are most likely to need them.  Any number of RPGs miss this simple concept and their books become much more difficult to navigate.  In Fate Core, I know intuitively that character creation should come after game creation and am rewarded with the material I need in the order I would expect.

The second key factor to the layout is the fact that the table of contents and index strike a good balance between being highly informative and not overwhelming.  The table of contents in Fate Core has more information than most RPG books do; having subsections listed under the major chapters of the book.  For example Character Creation has the subsections Character Creation Is Play, Your Character Idea, The Phase Trio, Skills, Stunts and Refresh, Stress and Consequences, You're All Set! and Quick Character Creation.  That's a lot of information, but each subsection title is fairly self-explanatory and it really best serves people who are looking for specific information, which will include most players getting ready for a game.  The index, unlike most RPG books, is fairly light.  It feels to me as if it focuses on terms not already covered in the table of contents, meaning it works well as a quick reference to the more obscure terms and rules of the system.  This balance means that I am provided with a large amount of information in a rather digestible manner, which makes the book quick to navigate.

Secretly the best page in the book.

Another huge score for Fate Core is that it is easy to read.  The language is simple, which all too many RPGs forget is useful.  Because the book is conversational, and so many subsections exist, it's easy to read quickly and find appropriate stopping points.  Sometimes when a book becomes too conversational, it can become easy to have sentences that look like they're informative, but don't give quite enough  information.  Fate Core seems to have avoided this pitfall through strong editing and the rounds of community feedback on the book.  I have yet to come across a point in which I had to re-read a section over and over to be able to tell myself "I think I get this concept."  In fact, it's helped me clarify a few of those points on older editions of Fate, allowing me to "get" some things that I wasn't quite sure of in the Dresden Files RPG.  Similarly, there are loads of game play examples conveniently placed after the most complex or important concepts of the rules, which speeds along the comprehension process.

Imagery is also a big help in making Fate Core easy to read.  There are tons of pictures in the book, giving readers a place to take a break.  And there is excellent use of symbols to help players remember and define the four major types of dice rolling actions.  This means that they can be used to recall that information at any time during examples or later rules discussions.  While it seems like a little thing, this is HUGE and greatly helps to cut down on flipping back and forth between sections of the book.  And if players do need to flip back and forth, the symbols make it easy to spot places in which the information they're looking for might be located.

Seriously, RPG publishers, do this. It's ultra helpful.

Outside of Fate Core, I have never read an RPG book cover-to-cover in order.  Fate Core changed this by providing an easy way in which to find rules and stopping points as I read through the book.  I also think the ease of reading for the book really couples well with the flexibility and openness of the system itself.  This has given my group, and I would suspect others, an added sense of ability to take the system to do whatever setting we might want.  My group has already discussed a fairly large range of game settings in Fate Core (from sci-fi like Rifts, Pacific Rim, or Stargate to fantasy like Warcraft to modern fantasy like Supernatural or the zombie apocalypse).  None of these seem like a stretch because the rules are flexible and it is easy to quickly navigate the book for the tools to put them together.  That's tough to beat.

As for the rules, they're pretty much Fate as it's been for years.  Players get four dice with blank, plus, and minus sides to them.  When players take an action that needs resolution, they roll those dice, count up the plusses and minuses then combine those with their values in various skills.  If the GM or player compels or invokes aspects, there might be shifts in that final number.  If the final number surpasses the target for success, the player succeeds.  Simple stuff really.  The real punch of the system is its ability to do anything and give enough structure to it that there's order to play but flexibility to allow players and GM's to attempt whatever they want.  It's clear that tenet carried over from the rules to the rule book, and coupled with Evil Hat's willingness to get their player community involved, it produced a great way to get both experienced and new players playing.

Truth in advertising.