Preamble

Before we begin, there’s a fair amount of cleaning up to do.

Firstly, my dogs ate two of my character sheets, so I needed to crawl through my own session reports to try to piece together character stats by looking at rolls and their noted modifiers. Where I didn’t have any rolls, I re-rolled their stats. I also printed out new character sheets and transcribed their classes, inventory, talents, and inventory to them. Whew.

Second, here’s a list of the crew and their backgrounds and names:

• Pike, Colonial Halfling Chirurgeon (F)
• Vaula, Bisonian Barbarian (F)
• Ense, Bisonian Urchin (M)
• Utapishtim, Volpithi Scion Gnome Kidnapper (F)
• Gudrun, Devlienner Indentured Orc Servant (M)

This makes the ships’ CRW stat equal to 5. The crew doesn’t have much in the way of gear (effectively, nothing). They’ll also gain XP as the characters do. At level 1, I need to randomly increase stats 18 times - that is, random character, random stat, increased by one. I’ll also get a specialist, which we’ll need to roll.

My resulting stats:

Pike S:7 D:7 C:8 I:9 W:7 Ch:7 HP:3
Vaula: S:8 D:8 C:8 I:8 W:7 Ch:7 HP:3
Ense: S:8 D:8 C:7 I:7 W:8 Ch:9 HP:3
Utapishtim: S:7 D:8 C:8 I:7 W:7 Ch:7 HP:3
Gudrun: S:7 D:7 C:8 I:8 W:8 Ch:8 HP:3

Finally, who becomes a specialist? Vaula! Vaula becomes… an Engineer. Once per day, re-roll a SPD check. Cool. A Bisonian in engineering.

Finally, backstories, tags, and characterization. This is important for this game specifically because I am acting as the GM and emulating the party using Triple-O. So that means I need to be informed by their stories and tags as to how they should act. I used Mythic Magazine Vol. 8, “Generating Compelling Backstories”, and with the help of my good friend Torin, threw together some interesting ones. Enjoy!

Rawyn

Indiana Jones type, always bored unless he’s in the thrill of adventure. Studies and even venerates the ancient empire that predates modern Solarians on Solaria.

Along with his mentor, made new discoveries about the antediluvian Solarian empire of Bau. The mentor came up with a magitechnical theory, and needed a particular power source to activate his design.

The only power source that would work was so rare that the only one that could be found was in the hands of a collector with ties to the Syndicate. It was a strange, repulsive, biological device that was referenced in ancient writings about the Bauan Empire’s rise to power.

The pair got ahold of it, at considerable personal risk, and a Syndicate “handler” was assigned to them to observe and make sure they didn’t abscond with it or destroy it.

Unfortunately, the magitechnical design failed, critically, and the power source was destroyed, and both Rawyn and the mentor were serious injured. Rawyn lost his arm right arm below the elbow and it was replaced with a prosthetic. The mentor was apprehended by the Syndicate while hiding Rawyn’s involvement, and Rawyn pursued to free him, but by the time he reached them, the mentor had already died of the wounds he suffered. Rawyn was then taken by the Syndicate in their stead.

Aylvrik

Aylvrik grew up an only son. His mother died in childbirth, so it was only he and his father. As a young boy, a plague burned through the world, hitting rural villages particularly hard. He and his father were made into refugees, fleeing the illness and trying to find a new home.

In their travels, the pair came across an orphan girl, and brought her with them. The girl’s name was Kariel, and she was two years younger than Aylvrik. Her parents had died in the plague and she had taken to begging and stealing to survive as she too fled.

Eventually, the plagues subsided and this newly assembled family found their place in a small city where Aylvrik’s father could work, and became indentured in exchange for land and a home. Aylvrik too was indentured when he came of age, hoping to accelerate the repayment of his father’s debts, to relieve of him of his indenture.

Kariel took her own approach to life in the city. It wasn’t long before she had ingratiated herself with thieves’ circles. She quickly became an expert. Aylvrik knew about her profession and constantly tried to dissuade her from it, but Kariel was as stubborn as she was adept. She was regularly gone for months at a time, as long as a year once, but Aylvrik and his father kept the door open to her the entire time.

Eventually Kariel pulled a con on the wrong noble, and the law came crashing down on her. From prison, she wrote a letter to Aylvrik asking for help - to pay her bond and debt to her target, to get her released from prison. Aylvrik had nowhere near enough money to pay for this, and nervously, reluctantly, turned to gambling. He racked up significant debts, but eventually managed to get enough coin on hand to pay for Kariel’s bond, and did so. But before she was released, Aylvrik himself was captured by the loan sharks and gambling ring owners that he had become indebted to. He was sold by them to the Syndicate, to be hauled off to who knows where to do who knows what.

Unbeknownst to him, Kariel found out about his capture after he was released, and pursues him even now, swearing to return the favor and free him from his captors.

Daeniel

When Daeniel was asked to infiltrate the Signatories of the Mother, a strange sect of religious fanatics whose influence was expanding wildly but whose motives were unclear, he wondered what could possibly make him the one for the job. The regional viceroy had called him up from a relatively unknown, low position in the King’s Bank. He was fine with numbers, and could get along with the upper crust of society without embarrassing himself. But what did he know about politicking, subterfuge, and skullduggery?

Nevertheless, the King had called upon him to serve, and so he did. He left the city of Stonearches, created a new persona, and became an initiate of the Signatories. The rites were simple and harmless, and he was welcomed as anyone else would be. He was unsurprised to find that knowledge of the group’s structures and dealings were compartmentalized as well as any military. His growth within that structure was slow and agonizing, mostly because of the persistent rumor that he was from a foreign nation.

He set out to discover the source of this rumor and followed the whispers to an older man from several echelons above him. Quinaes Highweave had recognized Daeniel - but due to the man’s advanced age, had misidentified him as not of the King’s Bank, where Quinaes had once had business, but of a neighboring kingdom, an economic and military rival.

Ultimately, those rumors would end Daeniel’s chances of infiltrating the Signatories, as Quinaes was found dead of highly suspicious circumstances; Daeniel had nothing to do with this, but lies circle the world while the truth is lacing up its boots, and Daeniel was forced to flee back to Stonearches and report his learnings and his failure to the Viceroy.

After reporting back, he was placed back in his normal duties with the King’s Bank. Months later, arriving at his home after a day’s work, he found his apartment destroyed, overturned, and a dangerous, crazed looking woman, wearing leather armor and carrying the tools of a bounty hunter there searching for him. Qinaes’s daughter, Enophia, a trained fighter and spy for the Signatories, was seeking him, seeking revenge for the death of her father which had been falsely laid at Daeniel’s feet.

Daeniel fled, barely evading the woman’s pursuit, but successfully. Long enough to book passage to the Ring nation of Navidem, where he imagined he might ply his trade out of reach of the Signatories and their ilk. But poorest fortune struck then, as the transport he journeyed on was captured by Syndicate thieves, and he was condemned to a short life of forced labor.

Zasha

Zasha is a member of a barbarian tribe of the tundra northlands of his world, Arpai. His tribe, the Black Tree, resisted early colonization and retreated out of reach of those who would subdue them. In doing so, his tribe lost their ancestral home, but maintained their fierce independence.

As a young man, his tribe agreed to parlay with the colonizers, though they would never accept subjugation. It was intended that they find a way to coexist with the Calrivian forces, to draw boundaries and find mutual understanding. But at the end of this meeting of leaders, the Black Tree were betrayed and ambushed by the woman who represented the Calrivian legions. The tribe leaders, and a great deal more, were slaughtered in the ambush.

Included in those who were ambushed was his mentor, Lowarr. Lowarr trained Zasha in an ancient form of martial art, but his training was woefully incomplete. His mentor was taken by the Calrivians and loaded onto a ship destined for the Calrivian home world, but after a struggle in which Lowarr slew many of his captors, he was killed by the same Calrivian woman who ordered the ambush of his tribe.

His training incomplete, Zasha made a plan to track down the woman and avenge his people. He found a way to join the colonizing legions, and eventually ingratiated himself such that he could be transferred off world, to the colony, Dishk, that the woman was reassigned to subjugate. When he arrived there, he quickly found her and assassinated her in the dead of night.

Fleeing the city, he was captured by Syndicate slavers who shackled him and took him aboard their ship.

What’s next?

I’m going to comb through the backstories to pick out some traits and tags that will help me emulate these characters.

And then, we’ll set up the next chapter for these characters and the crew! They’re currently stranded on a disabled vessel, the front half torn off, and with no idea where in the astral sea they are currently stranded. They will have to work together to figure out how to move this thing, or how to escape from it - but can they trust any would-be rescuers?

And what then? Where do they go? They have no idea how to get home, where their home worlds are, or who might be pursuing them. Stick around for the beginning of what will hopefully be a lovely campaign!

The swordsman is standing on the furthest edge of the promontory overlooking the Whorl. He can feel the spray of waves against stone on his face, with the Whorl thrashing so violently now at the end of things. The sky flickered lightning in a spray of colors, but no thunder is carried on the wind.

A woman’s voice calls out through the wind behind him. “It was always going to end this way, Gen. They did this to themselves.”

Gen’s head lowers. He wants to sob, to scream into the storm, but despair had, in so few hours, dug roots deep within him, choking out the will even to express his animalistic grief. He yells over the din, “Who is they? There are countless innocents, ten thousand for every one who is to blame. Not everyone chose this, and far fewer of those are responsible for it being done.”

Yelein walked up and puts her hand on his shoulder. Her voice is still strained even so close to him, but there is less edge in it. The tied leather thongs of her ceremonial armor are blown about furiously in the gale, whip-cracking sounds punctuating her words. “No, you’re right. I don’t know. But we did everything we could. I believe that.”

Another booming arrival of water from unnatural waves, many reaching hundreds of feet high and destroying the coastline. The water rips trees from their roots and upturns the grassland as it retreats back into the Whorl. The landscape that remains is patchwork dirt and rocks and pools of water sea water, only the mightiest trees remaining and those stripped of most of their branches. In the distance along the western coastline of the Whorl, a flotilla of debris from the homes of a fishing village swirls around in the frothing eddies.

Gen shakes his head and looks at her. “Small consolation. Our homes are gone. Our people are gone.” One hand rests on the hilt of his sword, the other wipes spray from his eyes and face. “Your brother, your nieces… gods, Yelein, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to- “

She closes her eyes and holds up a hand, cutting him off. “I know, please, I know, Gen. I haven’t even had time to think about that yet. I can’t think about that yet. The day will come, but before that, we have to find anyone else who wasn’t there. Anyone that was abroad, anyone that found a way out. If we got out, others did too. We owe that much to them. The memory of them, I mean.” She points into the storm, where far into the distance, just beyond the darkened horizon, the capitol was being torn apart.

In Science Fantasy, one of my favorite tropes is “deep history” or “deep time”. I.e., time scales of civilizations that stretch beyond understanding. Hundreds of empires rising and falling. The world changes drastically from one eon to the next, to accommodate its dominant lifeforms and eventually the world changes without their consent and ends that collective civilization. Rinse and repeat as desired.

These worlds are series of worlds. Each one can and often does look like an entirely different world. A different makeup of dominant biologies, a different path of socio-economic patterns, a different general zeitgeist and collective cultural thinking. Much like all of the different worlds built to serve the TTRPG hobby. If you took all of the worlds you could think of and strung them together in a row, you’d get a pretty interesting view of how 100 billion years looks to a world.

Vaarn certainly feels this way to me, and I am sure it owes some amount of that inspiration to Caves of Qud, which is certainly my favorite example of deep history. Societies that could build a space elevator and create a coven of interstellar civilizations to join into one universal community… those same societies fallen, their statues crumbled, their space elevator the only standing monument to their achievement, and it changed, in disrepair. When you play with time on this scale, every genre and time period could be spliced in. At some point, those space elevator people also had their analogue to office buildings and combustion engine cars and internets and demagogues. But all we have left to witness is their greatest spectacle, and that is how they are known to this world.

I’d imagine if you started shoving random worlds together and working out how they might connect, what their own time scales are, you would end up synthesizing some novel ideas. And maybe you’d want to zoom in on what happened in between, and now you traverse the world fractally, expanding out and in at your leisure like higher dimensional beings walking across time.

If this is waxing a little poetic, it’s because I get a little romantic. About deep time and cosmic scales, and the way fantasy and science fiction fit together, about how that gradient of crossfading between them is so interesting to explore. Give me more Orn. Give me Gene Wolfe (but hold the sexism, please.) Give me Path of Exile’s world of Wraeclast. I’ll find my way to EVE Online’s New Eden Cluster eventually. And then we can all meet back together again in Brandonsford.

Hello, Rootring!

You may have noticed that little widget to the bottom left of the page. If you haven’t, what are you doing? Well, that’s the Rootring, a modern Webring for TTRPG blogs. Brought to you by the incredible elmcat, if you check click next or prev on the Rootring widget, you’ll get taken to another random awesome TTRPG blog that you can explore. And they’ll have a link to another, so on and so forth. Webrings!

Webrings have a long history. They were popular in the 90s, they got sort of co-opted by Yahoo, who failed to monetize the idea, so they basically killed all the webrings. Figures. Corporate soul sucking profit seeking bullshit. Isn’t it exhausting?

Webrings are one of many ways we can take the internet back from these soulless megacorporations. We don’t need facebook, instagram, or tiktok to discover new things that interest us. We don’t need profit driven algorithms stoking anger and hatred, driving us into depression. We can just… join like-minded people and share what we’re doing. We can own our own websites and link them together in a better version of the internet, the one we had in the 90s that was a revolution in creative expression. It’s not even hard.

You may have seen my last post on Substack. It’ll go more into depth on why this site exists, why that one is ended, and what this webring will mean for the RPG Blogosphere.

I believe strongly in this. I encourage you to participate - whether it’s adding your own writing to the Rootring, or by bookmarking it and checking in from time to time. Let’s seize the internet from the oligarchs.

RSS Feed Apps

Which brings me to another point. It can be hard to curate things you’re interested in. Some blogs that I like won’t be on the rootring (although I think they should be!) Some feeds aren’t blogs at all, and I want to create useful lists of those. So far, I’ve used a pretty underwhelming chrome extension called Feed Fabrik RSS Feed Reader. It’s glitchy and unintuitive, and it’s not cross platform.

So I’m asking you for advice - do you know of good, cross platform RSS apps? If not cross platform, perhaps applications that can export their list of feeds and import into other applications? Surely something exists, but I have a hell of a time trying to find one. Please, if you know something, leave a comment. This is another important part of taking the internet back.

Thanks for reading, thanks for being here. I’m excited for the future. I’ll get back to writing about TTRPGs soon, when I have a little more energy than I have right now.

Setup

After defeating Amelia and scouring the ship for weapons to use against the cosmic beast that is tearing the ship apart, the crew ready themselves to free themselves for good. Unbeknownst to them, a group of pirates below have rallied to retake the ship, and the captain of the ship, injured, waits in the cabin to ambush whoever enters. The entire situation teeters on the brink!

At the end of our last session, most of the people on board the ship were shaken to the ground by the convulsions of the astral kraken. I will say that it takes the full round for everyone to regain their footing, which will advance the kraken timer and call for yet another random encounter check.

[E:Kraken Timer 7/10]
d: d6=1 Random Encounter!

Let’s address this after we reintroduce the party!

The Party

Our current party of four includes:

1. Ra’Wyn’Lek’Ka’Nir, or Rawyn for short, Solarian Gnoll
2. Leith, Devlienner Orc Serf
3. Amchutchen, Calrivian Hardback
4. Bi’De’Nir’Wyn’Lek, or Bide for shirt, Solarian Kobold

A note about the party and future characters!

When this level zero funnel is over, I intend to take the characters that survive and give them full backstories, personalities, and more. Right now, they are informed by a singular character trait that was rolled on tables in the Knave 2e book. They will become more real once I know who is going to make it into the full time party.

So what is our random encounter?

d: d6=4 -> Kraken tentacles break through the floor, attacking a character and then retreating. Who do they attack?
d: d4=4 -> Bide
d: d20+2=9 -> Miss!
=> A tentacle bursts through the floor and tries to wrap itself around Bide, who manages to duck below the tentacle just in time.

Leith corrals the group together, including Rawyn, who is holding a second bottle. Three of the group push the bombard to angle it towards the kraken's body, while the last shoves the bottle into the bombard.

[E:Kraken Timer 8/10]

The group holds their breath as Rawyn strikes the glyph on the rear of the bombard, triggering the arcane reaction that fires the spell bottle's energy at the beast.

@ Rawyn fires the bombard at the kraken
d: d20=17 -> Serious damage!
=> The kraken screams, a sound like tearing sheets of metal and the background static of the universe. Its tentacles whip out at the deck, two of them towards the group.

@ Tentacle 1 attacks a random party member
d: d4=3 -> Amchutchen
d: d20+2=16 -> Hit
d: d4=4 -> 4 damage
=> A tentacle whips out, grabbing Amchutchen, crushing him in its monstrous grasp, and flings his body into the void

@ Tentacle 2 attacks another random party member
d: d3=2 -> Leith
d: d20+219 -> Hit
d: d4=3 -> 3 damage
=> Leith is crushed underneath one the weight of the tentacles, body broken against the deck.

As the group covers their ears in a futile attempt to drown out the nightmare sound of the kraken, two tentacles whip over the gunwale, furiously seeking out prey. Amchutchen and Leith are made quick work of, dust in the eyes of this vast and unknowable creature.

Their deaths shock the group, but Rawyn seizes the other bottle and loads it into the bombard.

@ Rawyn loads the other bottle into the bombard
[GM: This bottle needs to deal at least 8 damage to drive the kraken away. If it doesn't, the kraken will rip the ship in half and leave with its prize.]
d: d20=1 -> The bottle flies off into the abyss, missing the kraken entirely.

Rawyn fires the bombard again. The bottle sails through the aether, trailing aether dust behind it. It careens off course, missing the kraken’s body by inches, before exploding harmlessly in the abyss behind it.

The party stares in horror as the kraken’s tentacles wrap around the fore of the ship in its entirety.

[GM:Let's grab the next two characters.]

[C:Ilan] - Navidemi Goblin, former merchant.
[C:Zasha] - Colonial Half-Orc barbarian

[GM:The kraken is going to rip off the front of the ship, where the group is now. We need to roll to see who makes it to the back of the ship before the kraken is done tearing it apart. It will be a DC 12 DEX check.]

@ The whole crew runs towards the back of the ship
d: [C:Rawyn] d20+1=18 -> Pass
d: [C:Ilan] d20+1=20 -> Pass
d: [C:Zasha] d20=13 -> Pass
d: [C:Bide] d20+2=14 -> Pass
=> With little time left to spare, the crew hurdles over debris and fallen bodies, reaching the aft of the ship. The kraken tears the front end of the ship off entirely, and drifts away into the astral sea, vanishing as it returns to the depths from whence it came.

The survivors are in disarray. Some are screaming at nothing, others vomiting over the railing of the ship. Some sit silent, clearly in shock.

[GM: I almost forgot about the sailors below decks. I had previously said they were moving to the fore of the ship. I think it's unlikely any made it out alive. I'll roll a d20 - if it lands on the numbers 1-7, that's how many sailors made it safely back. If it lands 8-20, none of them do.]

d: d20=19 -> None survive
=> All of the sailors scream as they vanish into the the aether in the wake of the kraken. Tentacles whip out from the depths and pull them all down, down, into an infinite nightmare sea.

The crew surveys the wreckage. The cabin is still on the deck, but everything fore of that, including all four bombards, are gone. Below deck, the front of the ship where the kraken’s maw was feeding has been torn free as well.

? What does the group do in the aftermath?
Obvious: Search the ship for any surviving pirates
Option: Spread out to find supplies and the controls
Odd: Collapse into infighting and power struggles
d: d6A=3,3 -> Doubles! The option is chosen with emphasis.
=> The crew is going to split up wordlessly all over the ship.

The survivors stare at each other silently. None acknowledge the insanity of the trauma they have just endured; none state the obvious - that they are marooned and none of them are equipped to pilot the remains of this vessel. Wordlessly, one by one, they separate, finding different places to search, to salvage what little they can from this situation.

Initiative Order:
1. Bide
2. Zasha
3. Ilan
4. Rawyn

@ [C:Bide] heads to search the cabin. The door opens into the gruesome scene of Amelia's depraved butchery. Covering his mouth and nose, he pushes through the viscera and through the door behind. He searches the room.
? Does Bide notice the hiding captain before he is ambushed? DC 12 INT
d: d20-1=12 -> Success
=> Bide hears the panting, labored breathing of the captain hiding underneath the desk. He holds his cutlass at the ready and slowly turns the corner of the desk.

[GM: Initiative! Neither is surprised but, since the captain would be assuming he is inspotted, Bide will roll with advantage.]
d: [C:Bide] d20A+2=6,18 -> 18
d: [C:Captain Ca'Resh] d20+2=15 -> 15
=> The captain is surprised to see a drawn cutlass in his face.

@ Bide swipes at the hiding goblin
d: d20-1=4 -> Miss
=> The goblin deflects the blade with his own and then madly lunges at Bide
d: d20+2=14 -> Hit
d: d8=5 -> 5 damage
=> The captain's engraved saber plunges into Bide's stomach, leaving him wide eyed in shock. He slides off of the blade and to the ground, dead.

@ [C:Zasha] searches the rune engines at the back of the ship. DC12 INT check to find something useful.
d: d20-3=17! (Natural 20) -> Zasha finds multiple useful things
d: 3d12=2,3,11 -> Dagger, Pole, Club
=> Zasha finds a weapon cache at the back of the ship and hands them out. He keeps the club for himself.

@ [C:Ilan] searches the former prison cells below for anything that might have been searched over. DC12 INT
d: d20+2=5 -> Nothing
=> The devastation in the cells below hides nothing. Everything that was here had already been taken by the survivors.

@ [C:Rawyn] searches the overturned life boat. DC 12 INT check
d:d20=2 -> Nothing
=> The overturned small boat, pinned down by a fallen beam and smoldering from earlier explosions, contains nothing of value.

? Does the group hear the struggle between Bide and the captain?
d: d20=1 -> No, but
=> The group returns to the upper deck to regroup, and realizes Bide has not returned. They decide to investigate the cabin together.

[GM: New Character!]

[C:Ibishalak] - Volpithi Scion (Volpithi are Gnome-ish), Orphan

@ The group moves to the cabin, through the bloody butchery, and sees the captain standing over Bide's body, holding his own sabre in one hand and Bide's cutlass in the other.

[GM: Initiative!]
d: [C:Rawyn] d20+1=17
d: [C:Ilan] d20+1=5
d: [C:Zasha] d20=2
d: [C:Ibishalak] d20-2=4
d: [C:Captain Ca'Resh] d20+2=18

Captain Ca’Resh howls, both through his own injury and his rage. “This is my ship! Mine! I won’t let it be taken over by scum! It’s mine!” The words are halting and pained, and the captain holds his left shoulder. But then his grimace contorts into a grin and he launches himself with fury at the group.

@ [C:Captain Ca'Resh|injured] throws himself at the nearest survivor
d: d4=2 -> Ilan
d: d20+2=22! (Natural 20) -> Critical Hit
d: 2d8=7 -> 7 Damage
=> Captain Ca'Resh, in a berserk rage, cuts with his sabre straight into Ilan's side, who collapses with a soundless grunt to the ground.

@ [C:Rawyn] stabs wildly with his dagger
d: d20+3=22 -> Hit
d: d4=2 -> 2 damage [C:Captain Ca'Resh|8-2->6]

@ [C:Zasha] swings his club at Ca'Resh's head
d: d20+2=21 -> Hit
d: d4=2 -> 2 damage [C:Captain Ca'Resh|6-2->4]

@ [C:Ibishalak] looks around the room to find something useful to attack with. DC12 INT
d: d20+4=13 -> Success
? Does she find an actual weapon?
d: d20=8 -> No
=> Ibishalak looks around the room in a panic. She finds a length of cord, and tries to wrap it around Ca'Resh's neck.
d: d20-2=5 -> Fail
=> She tries to loop the cord around the goblin's neck, but he elbows her in the stomach and pushes her away from him.

@ [C:Captain Ca'Resh|4] pounces on Ibishalak in retaliation
d: d20+2=10 -> Hit
d: d8=1 -> 1 damage
=> The captain's wicked sabre cuts deeply across Ibishalak's face and down her arm, and she falls to the ground, where she perishes.

[GM: More survivors push into the fracas]

[C:Aylvrik] Devlienner Indentured Orc, Drover
[C:Daeniel] Colonial Elf, Cult Initiative
d: d20+3=8 -> Initiative 8
d: d20-1=17 -> Initiative 17

@ [C:Rawyn] tries to stab the captain in the back as the captain assaults Ibishalak
d: d20+3=17 -> Hit
d: d4=2 -> 2 Damage [C:Captain Ca'Resh|4-2->2]

@ [C:Daeniel] picks up the wooden pole that Ilan dropped and tries to jab it at the captain's head
d: d20+1=19 -> Hit
d: d2 (improvised weapon)=2 -> 2 damage
=> The wooden pole cracks loudly against the back of the captain's head, who then lies motionless atop the body of Ibishalak

A stunned silence settles over the room. Only loud breathing and the crackling of dying fires elsewhere on the ship. The survivors wipe blood from their hands and faces.

After surveying the room and seeing the controls of the ship, the rest of the remaining survivors, few as they are, sweep the rest of the vessel. No more stragglers remain, and there is no sign of the astral kraken.

The survivors will be left to pick up shattered pieces and try to make their way back to some form of civilization.

That leaves us with our party!

Ra’wyn’lek’ka’nir, or Rawyn, the Solarian Gnoll.
Zasha, the Colonial Half-orc.
Aylvrik, Devlienner Indentured Orc
and Daeniel, the Colonial Elf

Tune in next time as we meet our first level characters, introduce them to the remaining survivors who become the ship’s crew, and discover what choices they will make to find their ways home!

Setup

In part 1, our players escaped from captivity when the ship they were imprisoned on, sailing the vast astral sea, was seemingly attacked by a cosmic kraken which threatened to tear the ship apart. There were some hints that there had also been a mutinous event, and it certainly seemed as though the crew were living in terror of the First Mate, named Amelia. While the captive players scrounged for supplies in the chaos, they stumbled upon Amelia herself, covered in blood, wielding a wicked cleaver, and apparently feasting on the flesh of the mutineers. Fighting for their lives, the crew tried to subdue her. The bestial woman slew Pavya, the Calrivian Dwarf, before Amchutchen threw a jar of bottled lightning and electrocuted her to death.

As before, we will notate the events of this session using Lonelog format, use Triple-O to emulate the party, not the GM, and fill in the blanks with various oracles, primarily using Solodark’s tools.

The Party

While we still control 14 of the original 15 level 0 captives, our current party of four includes (in initiative order):

1. Ra’Wyn’Lek’Ka’Nir, or Rawyn for short, Solarian Gnoll
2. Leith, Devlienner Orc Serf
3. Amchutchen, Calrivian Hardback
4. Bi’De’Nir’Wyn’Lek, or Bide for shirt, Solarian Kobold

S1

? Does the lightning bottle electrocute anybody nearby? (Likely)
d: d20A=17 -> Yes
=> Bide and Leith, right next to Amelia, are also in the range of the bottle's lightning.

GM: Bide and Leith will make DC12 DEX checks to dive away and avoid the lightning.
d: [C:Bide] d20+2=18 -> Success
d: [C:Leith] d20+4=14 -> Success
=> Bide tumbles away, somersaulting towards his group, lightning only crackling across his knuckles and leaving them burned. Leith jumps back, and the lightning surrounds him and he feels it in his bones, but he perseveres.

Note: the d20A notation is my way of saying “d20 with advantage”. d20D would be with disadvantage.

Winded, breathless, the group look around the deck. Leith and Bide shake their hands, as though trying to shake the shocked feeling from their bodies. Amchutchen is struck with horror at what he’s done, even though he knows it was necessary, and feels terrible guilt for how close he came to killing two innocent people as well. But all of them turn to the dead body of Pavya. No words come to them… Amchutchen speaks up first, voice quavering.

“We… have to take her body home… at least, we can’t leave it in the sea, or her spirit… it will be lost here, without rest…”

GM: Advance Kraken Timer and Encounter Check!
[E:Kraken Timer 4/10]
d: d6=2, No Encounter

The kraken continues to crack and crush the ship, loud wooden snapping sounds reminding these captives that the danger is still there and greater than ever. And more of the slaver pirates remain on the ship.

? What do the group do here?
Obvious: Try to deal with the Kraken somehow...
Option: Find the ship's controls and see if it provides an option for escape
Odd: Try to overturn the one remaining small boat on the deck
d: 2d6=6,6! -> Obvious, doubled!
=> Leith takes control here, famous Orcish temper rising, and he wants to kill that damn beast.

In Triple-O, if you “double down” (rolling two dice instead of one to get a more likely result) and you roll doubles, that outcome is chosen but it is chosen with emphasis. So not only will the group try to deal with the kraken, but Leith is thirsty for blood and they are going to try to kill it.

Leith looks around, and sees another bottle of bottled lightning near Amchutchen. He walks over quietly, bends down and picks the bottle up from near the wrecked outer shell of a building that used to stand here on the deck.

“This… it’s a weapon. We can deal with that thing with this. But we need more.”

[C:Rawyn]
@ Stares at Pavya a moment before silently following instructions.
? Does Rawyn find the one remaining bottle? Unlikely
d: d20D=10 -> Twist!
-> tbl: 2d100=38,61 -> "Pull Mind"
=> Rawyn runs along the side of the ship towards the fore, until he stops dead in his tracks. His mind comes under attack from the kraken. 

When you roll a 10 for a Solodark oracle question, you get a twist! We roll on the prompts table later in the zine to see what happens.

Rawyn freezes half way to the front of the ship. He feels an unbearable pressure on his mind, like the weight of a thousand decisions all at once with the grief and joy of a thousand deaths and births all at once. His psyche is assaulted, and his nose starts to bleed.

GM: [C:Rawyn] will make a CHA check to resist this, DC 15.
d: DC20+1=18 -> Success
=> Rawyn withstands the mental attack from the kraken, and resumes his halting, stuttering steps towards the front of the ship. He doesn't have any idea what just happened.

@ [C:Rawyn] searches the fore of the ship. He can make an DC12 INT check to search the bombards first, otherwise it will be on a future turn.
d: d20=10 -> Failure
=> Rawyn searches around the bombards and along racks by the cabin on the opposite side of them. He sees nothing resembling one of these bottles.

? What does [C:Leith] do here?
Obvious: Direct others to search with him
Option: Throw the bottle he has at the kraken now
Odd: Break into the cabin to find a weapon
d: d6=5 -> Obvious
=> Leith starts barking out orders, and the group spreads out to find more of the bottles. [GM: They will search for weapons and supplies with advantage]

@ [C:Amchutchen] peers into the window of the cabin
=> He sees a partially butchered body on a table, and a pile of other bodies and bones in the room. He turns away retching. [GM: Amchutchen makes a CHA check to avoid becoming disoriented again.]
d: d20+2=14 -> Success
=> He manages to push down the rising bile and turn his attention elsewhere. He tells the others what he saw, in simple terms.

@ [C:Bide] Searches down into the open cargo bay. This opening used to be covered by a hatch, but it has been destroyed. This is where the pirates from earlier fled down into, and below is the room with the runic engines and the pirates that were hiding amidst the supplies.
? Does Bide see pirates still in this room?
d: d20=15 -> Yes
=> Bide sees pirates below, and ducks his head away from the opening and listens in on them.
? Are the pirates making plans to retake the ship?
d: d20=11 -> Yes
=> Bide hears the pirates regrouping, saying that with Amelia out of the way, they just have to get rid of the Captain and kill the captives. Another suggests re-capturing the captives so they have something to sell to repair the ship. Bide backs away and tells Leith what he heard.

[GM: Kraken Timer and Random Encounter Check]
[E:Kraken Timer 5/10]
d: d6=6 -> No Encounter
[GM: The pirate group below has regrouped. There are now 7 sailors below, led by a goblin. He orders them to head to the fore of the ship where there's a ladder. This will take them across the kraken's maw, which I will resolve on the next GM check.]

@ [C:Rawyn] continues searching. He can make a DC9 INT check to find the bottles in the bombards.
d: d20=9 -> Success
=> Rawyn peers into the bombard, the "long cauldron" like object facing out of the front and side of the ship. He sees a bottle inside and reaches in, pulling out the stoppered lightning bottle.

The kraken continues tearing apart the ship. Its long arms rip the gunwale into its maw, which is also boring a hole deep into the hull. Rawyn, bottle in hand, turns back and sees the beast’s appendages flailing against a backdrop of stars. He runs back to the group, this time on the side opposite the kraken.

@ [C:Leith] takes the bottle from Rawyn, now holding two of them.
? Does he think this is enough to attack the kraken and try to drive it away from the ship? What is his plan?
Obvious: Attack the kraken and drive it away by throwing the bottles into the maw.
Option: Attack the kraken's body from the deck, while it's gaping mouth is still embedded below
Odd: Try to figure out the bombards, and shoot the bombards at the kraken.
d: d6=1 -> Odd
=> Leith turns to Rawyn, asks where he found the bottle. When Rawyn tells him it was within one of the bombards, Leith looks to the fore, and tells the group that he wants to try to fire the thing at the beast. He leads the group to the fore.

@ [C:Amchutchen] tries to turn the closest bombard around to face the kraken. DC 18 STR check
d: d20+2=16 -> Fail
=> Amchutchen tries to rotate the bombard, which is mounted on a wooden platform on wheels, but even still, the device is too heavy to rotate alone.

@ [C: Bide] moves to help Amchutchen, and the two of them put their back into it. DC 18 STR check with advantage.
d: d20A-1=15 -> Fail
=> The two can only rotate the bombard about half way. It will take three people to certainly move the device.

[GM Turn]
[E: Kraken Timer 6/10]
d: d6=1 -> Random Encounter!
[GM: The pirates from below move into the room where the captives were held previously.]

[Random Encounter]
d: d6=3 -> The ship tilts suddenly. Everyone on board makes a DC 15 DEX check or falls prone.
d: [C:Rawyn] d20+1=19 -> Pass
d: [C:Leith] d20+4=24! -> Pass
d: [C:Amchutchen] d20+2=4 -> Fail
d: [C:Bide] d20+2=9 -> Fail
=> Bide and Amchutchen fall while trying to move the bombard. The ship shakes violently, and they are unable to get to their feet until the end of their next turn.
[GM: The pirates below will make a group check here.]
d: d20+1=10 -> Fail
=> All the pirates are thrown about in the former captive's room. They won't make progress on their turn.
? What is the captain doing here? He is injured, and has been hiding in the cabin waiting to ambush intruders. Is he staying here?
Obvious: He remains waiting in ambush, his injury preventing him from leaving.
Option: He prepares to leap out of the cabin to attack whoever is nearest and retake control of his vessel
Odd: He prepares to sneak out of the cabin and try to get into the boat that is upside down on the deck, to leave the ship.
d: d6=5 -> Obvious
=> The captain, nursing an injury, waits with his hand on his wicked blade to gut the first thing that enters the room.

The ship shakes violently as the captives try to turn the heavy bombards to face the cosmic horror that’s trying to devour them. Stars flicker, and flames burn on the back of the ship. Within the cabin, Captain Ca’Resh holds his hand to the bandage hastily wounda around his right shoulder. It is soaked through with blood. His other hand is on his saber, which trembles with rage at both the mutiny and the assault on HIS ship by this upjumped lobster!

Whatever poor fool stumbles into the cabin first is going to be gutted… He relishes the thought, licking his lips in anticipation.

Continues in Session 3

Session 1

Date: 2026-02-19

What the PCs know:

• You were taken by raiders in a flying ship
• You’ve been locked up at least a week, up to a month
• You’ve been able to talk in whispers and know a fair bit about each other
• Your captors are cruel
• Two captors are the frightful Chef Amelia and the cunning Captain Ca’Resh
• Just now, yells came from above, then the ship began to shake. The hull buckled and broke your cells open
• There was a slaver in the hall before the cells broke, but his lantern went out in the chaos.

S1

The ship rocks and captives are thrown to the floor. They scramble to their feet in the darkness.

The four PCs I am starting with are:
Pavya, Calrivian Dwarf. Sarcastic, talks to themselves. Former Thief.
Leith, Devlienner Serf. Orc. Courageous, growling. Former Stonecutter.
Amchutchen, Calrivian Hardback. Huge family, quivering. Former Spicer.
Bi'De'Nir'Wyn'Lek, Solarian Kobold. Bide (pronounced Beed) for short. Never gives up, insistent. Former duelist.

I will roll for turn order and stay in turn order. The Kraken Timer as written is 1 hour. I will make it 10 turns, the way Solodark prescribes for torch timers. On my turn, the kraken timer will advance. It will look like: [E:Kraken Timer 1/10].

d: d4=3 -> Amchutchen goes first.

@ [C:Amchutchen] Search in the darkness for a light source
(note: three things can be found by searching here, so the only thing that will change is the order.)
d: d3=3 -> Slavers corpse
=> Amchutchen stumbles blindly into the corpse of the slaver

@ [C:Bide] Searches the body
d: d2=1 -> Cutlass
=> Bide grabs the cutlass from the man's belt.

@ [GM] Encounter check and kraken timer
d: d6=4 No encounter
[E:Kraken Timer 1/10]

@ [C:Pavya] Searches near the body
=> Finds the extinguished lantern and turns it on

[GM: There are two visible exits. Grinding, cracking sounds come from the door fore, and flickering light from the door aft.]

? Which way does Leith lead the group? Obvious: aft, Option: fore, Odd: neither
d: d6=6 -> Obvious, aft
@ [C:Leith] Opens the door viciously and charges in

The smell of burning flesh sickens. All that can be seen in the dim light are stacked barrels and crates, and fire in an oven on the starboard side wall. Turning on the spit in the oven is a goblin body. The group is in the hold of the ship. The ceiling is open over the barrels, and flickering firelight can be seen above. On the wall to port, a sliding section of the outer hull is open, revealing an endless expanse of stars in the astral sea.

[GM: Everyone makes a CHA save (DC12) upon seeing the goblin in the oven. On failure, disoriented for d4 rounds, can only move OR act.
d: [C:Amchutchen] d20+2=8 -> Fail
d: [C:Bide] d20+1=10 -> Fail
d: [C:Pavya] d20+2=17 -> Pass
d: [C:Leith] d20-1=7 -> Fail
d: d4=2 -> 2 rounds of disorientation
=> All but Pavya see this and are sickened. Bide and Pavya vomit, overcome.

@ [C:Leith|disoriented] Searches the barrels and finds a pathway through into the open hold

Further into the hold, steel pipes descend from the upper deck, pass through boxes carved with runes, then continue to the aft wall of the ship where mithrite blocks are positioned, floor to ceiling, carved with complex runes and flickering with green flames. On the wall opposite the group, sacks and crates of supplies are strewn about, opened, spilling onto the floor.

@ [C:Amchutchen|disoriented] Searches the supplies for anything like a weapon.
d: d12=8 -> Iron Spikes (10)
-> Triggers random encounter check
d: d6=5 -> No encounter

@ [C:Bide|disoriented] Joins Amchutchen, holding a hand over his mouth.
d: d12=7 -> Crowbar
-> Triggers random encounter check
d: d6=1 -> Encounter!

Bide and Amchutchen start digging through the supplies, desperate to find anything to help them survive this catastrophe. As they dig, they uncover a sailor hiding behind a barrel, one of their captors. They look terrified.

[GM: Reaction Roll]
d: 2d6+2 (Amchutchen CHA)=12 -> Friendly
=> The terrified soldiers say they are hiding from Amelia

“Don’t! Wait! She’ll kill us all, we can help you!” The uncovered soldier babbles. “Amelia, she’s gone mad, she’ll carve you up and eat you just the same!”

? What does the party do in response to this unexpected reprieve?
Obvious: Attack the sailors, they are captors!
Option: Try to compel the sailors to defend themselves and the ship
Odd: Leave the sailors here and go somewhere else
d: d6=1 -> Leave the sailors here, have to get away from them!

[GM: Encounter check and Kraken timer]
d: d6=2 -> No encounter
[E:Kraken Timer 2/10]

[C:Pavya] Shouts out that they have to run, but tries to glance around the supplies first
d: d12=1 -> Torch

[C:Leith|disoriented] Leads the way back aft, into the room with the cells
[C:Amchutchen|disoriented] Opens the heavy wooden door on the fore side of the cell rooms and steps in to see the Kraken's massive, lamprey-like maw devouring the wall and floor to starboard.

? What do the party do, with the kraken's maw here?
Obvious: Retreat and deal with the sailors instead
Option: Push through to the other side
Odd: Freeze for a round
2d6: 1,6 -> Obvious
=> They try to push through the room and make it to the ladder

[GM:The kraken senses their approach and starts to shake the ship violently to get them in its mouth. DC12 DEX check or fall and slide towards the mouth]
d: [C:Amchutchen] d20+2=20 -> Pass
d: [C:Bide] d20+2=8 -> Fail
d: [C:Pavya] d20-2=8 -> Fail
d: [C:Leith] d20+4=14 -> Pass
=> Bide and Pavya stumble and fall, sliding towards the maw. They will be devoured on their next turn...

[C:Amchutchen|disoriented] Tries to grab Bide and pull them up
d: d20+2=13 vs DC12 DEX -> Pass
=> Amchutchen pulls Bide to his feet

[C:Bide|disoriented] Tries to grab Pavya while Amchutchen holds on to him
d: d20+2=18 vs DC12 DEX -> Pass
=> Still scrambling to his feet, Bide also grabs Pavya by the leg and hauls them back

[GM:Encounter check and kraken timer]
d: d6=1, Encounter!
[E:Kraken Timer 3/10]

[GM: Unbeknownst to the group, Chef Amelia has finished her meal and begins searching for a new one. She leaves the chop shop and cabin and is now in area 7. She finds the syndicate sailors there and is engaging them in combat.]

[C:Pavya] Scrambles up the ladder onto the open deck

Atop the ladder, the stars light the middle deck. Facing out from the front of the ship are four iron devices, like long, bowled cauldrons, resting and bolted down to wooden blocks. The opening of these devices aims out over the front of the ship into the astral sea. In the center of the ship is a cabin atop this deck. On the walls of the cabin are shuttered glass windows. To the sides of the ship, tentacles of the kraken have curled around the deck of the ship, splintering wood beneath, and keeping the ship in a vise grip as it devours it from below.

? Does anyone know what the bombards are?
d: d20=9 -> No
? What do the group do here?
Obvious: Search the rest of the deck
Option: Break into the Cabin
Odd: Try to figure out the bombards
d: d6=5, Obvious
=> The group moves to search the rest of the deck for any way off this ship.

[C:Leith:-disoriented] Moves around the sides of the cabin.

[GM: The group hears a blood curdling scream and the thwacking sound of a blade hitting flesh.]

As the group follows the narrow walkway to the aft of the ship, they see a grisly scene. 3 sailors back away in fear from a hulking human woman. She wears a blood stained apron, and blood drips from the end of a massive chef’s knife. It is clear to them that this is the woman the sailors below were so afraid of. A halfling sailor lies on the deck, feebly trying to crawl away as they rapidly lose blood from a fresh wound.

“Mutiny… you thought you could… take my place… take the captain’s place… Oh no, sweet little meatlings, there won’t be any mutiny on my ship!” The woman steps over the body of the halfling towards the other sailors.

[GM: Initiative Rolls!]
d: [C:Amchutchen] d20=2 -> 2
d: [C:Bide] d20=6 -> 6
d: [C:Pavya] d20=10 -> 10
d: [C:Leith] d20+4=13 -> 13
d: [GM] d20=2 -> 2

[C:Leith|-disoriented] Stunned, but orcish blood boils. Charges and attacks Amelia with his fists.
d: d20+STR(0)=20! -> Critical Hit. 3 damage [N:Amelia|HP:17]
(Note: Unarmed. My rule is that unarmed strikes deal 1 damage. Here, it's doubled to 2, and Leith's Mighty adds 1 to make it 3.)

[GM:Amelia grins and turns to attack Leith]
d:d20+3=7 -> Miss!

? Do the sailors run, or do they join the fray to attack Amelia? Or the group?
? d6, 1-3 run, 4-5 attack Amelia, 6 attack the group
d: d6=1 -> Run
=> The soldiers, seeing an opportunity to escape the mad woman, run away.

[C:Amchutchen] Searches desperately for something like a weapon
? Does he find something useful?
d: d20=11 -> Yes
=> Amchutchen spies bottles flickering with lightning near the edge of the husk of a burning room. (Lightning Bottle)

[C:Bide] Whips out his cutlass and attacks with duelist's speed!
d: d20-1=14 -> Hit!
d: d6=3 [N:Amelia|HP:14]
=> The cutlass slashes into Amelia, who seems to revel in the bloodshed

[C:Pavya] Grabs the crowbar from Bide and swings it at Amelia
d: d20=6 -> Miss
=> Pavya swings wide and stumbles toward the only intact small boat on the deck

[C:Leith] Enraged, tries to kill Amelia with his bare hands.
d: d20+1=3 -> Miss

[GM: Amelia whips her blade in a circle, attacking her nearest enemy, Pavya]
d: d20=16 -> Hit
d: d6=3
=> Pavya takes the wicked chef's knife across the neck, and the blade nearly decapitates the dwarven woman, who is now dead.

As their first compatriot falls, the group cries out in horror. Another one of the group steps forward and grabs the crowbar out of Pavya’s lifeless hand.

[C:Ra'Wyn'Lek'Ka'Nir, Solarian Gnoll. Rawyn for short.] (takes Pavya's place in initiative)

[C:Amchutchen] Throws the bottle at Amelia!
d: d20+2 vs DC 9 DEX=17 -> Hit
d: d20=16
=> Amelia convulses as the bottled lightning explodes at her feet, collapsing to the ground, smoking and dead.

Continued in Session 2!

Scene 1
Expected Scene: Arriving at Ekkurad and meeting with the Seekers
Test: 3, Altered Scene

The ruins of Ekkurad are known to local Faa tribes. These dusty, crumbling ceramic structures have given temporary shelter to many nomads. They still reach high above, as much as 40 yards in some places, with hexagonal patterns etched into the sides, eroding into smooth surfaces lower to the blue dunes. Seen from a distance, the ruins could be mistaken for a copse of white tree trunks, stripped of branches and hollowed.

Pidash is puzzled by Vash’s certainty that the Seekers would be here. He himself has sheltered here from sandstorms and hidden away from pursuers, and he has never seen sign of the Seekers here. It is possible that they took up here recently…

Pidash snakes between the towering structures, gloved hand brushing against warm ceramic as he circles the cylindrical hulls. He listens to the sound of sands, but they are still. The air is unmoving today, the dying red sun bearing down on the sands. Pidash looks up at the sun. It is worthy of respect, though some days it feels more a sad, dying man glaring its regret down on the Urth. It still heats the air and dries the skin, but without the vigor and intensity that the ancestors knew.

While he paths through the ruins, he takes note of defensible locations. He imagines himself a Hegemony soldier, moving through the ruins in search of prey. In his mind he becomes one of them - lacking the wisdom of the desert, but carrying the strength of Hegemonic arms, armors, technology, and pure numbers. The Legionnaire has orders from his his Centurion - flush out the occupants, put them to the blade or the rifle, and tighten the grip of the Empire on the desert.

He starts to move like a Legionnaire. His stride becomes less Faa, less confident, less graceful. It becomes more clodding and brutish. Pidash is not underestimating his opponent, just observing the truth of those who were not born in the azure sand and do not know how to dance with it.

His eyes follow the path of the hexagons up the side of one of the ruins. It stands stark against the indigo sky, broken peak. The Legionnaire’s gaze would be skyward, awestruck by the timelessness of it, maybe even a bit resentful of its origins, predating the Emperor and the Hegemony itself, proof of the supremacy of the desert.

The sands suddenly shift underneath his feet. He grabs his rifle sling and crouches, the floor underneath him gives way and he’s falling, plummeting through a narrow chute, crashing onto a hard floor. Pain shoots from his ankles to his hips. (3 fall damage, HP: 5) Sand continues to fall from what was once the floor beneath his feet. He lowers his head, keeping it from his eyes. He reaches out and his hand hits a solid bar, and he peers up through the diminishing curtain of sand to see bars. He quickly glances around. The bars fully enclose him - he grabs one and pushes on it, shakes it. Panic bubbles up within him, the caged animal ancestor in his spirit growling in his mind. It’s all he can do to keep from lunging at the bars and screaming.

He suppresses this urge, pushing it down. The bars are evenly spaced, and not rusted. They only rise about ten feet up. These were not originally part of the ruins. They were placed here by someone who occupies the place, or at least someone who occupied it recently. He considers shouting out for help. If the Seekers are here, they are unlikely to harm him. But if they are here, they knew he would be here, in this cage, long before he even arrived.

Chaos: 6 (up)

Scene 2
Expected Scene: Arrival of the Seekers
Test: 6, expected

Is Pidash alone in the trap for very long? 50/50: 13, Yes
Is Pidash there for more than a day? Unlikely: 58, No

Hours pass. Pidash can sense night falling by the coolness of the air. He decides to rest now, regain some strength, and if he is undisturbed by sunrise, he will take more drastic measures to break himself out.

Sometime in the night, his sleep is disturbed by the sound of soft footsteps. He sits perfectly still but allows his eyes to open, even though only faint moonlight reaches down the shaft. The footsteps stop outside of the cage. He considers shouldering his rifle, but before he can make a decision, a soft voice calls out to him.

“You’re a son of the desert. Not one of the outsiders.”

The voice is soft, but grainy, like a window opening after several seasons, scraping dust and sand. A voice that wasn’t accustomed to being used out loud. It’s female, Pidash thinks, and when the figure steps into the moonlight, it’s more or less confirmed.

The woman wears robes of mixed white and brown linen fabrics, blue sand dusting the hem of the robe that brushes the ground. A sash fastens the robes at the waist, and is embroidered with a pattern that he can’t make out in the darkness. The collar of the robe is high and fastened just below the jawline, giving the person the impression of an elongated, thin neck, with a narrow head gently balanced atop it. And most telling of all, a yellow strip of fabric, tied behind the head, covers the woman’s eyes completely.

“And you are a daughter of the Seekers, unless there’s another flock of the willingly blind that has migrated here without my knowledge.” Pidash sits up. He has nothing to hide from the Seekers, not that it would do him any good to try. He peers carefully at the blindfold. There are no scars on her upper cheeks, so this woman likely still has her eyes, but regardless, she would have seen straight through him.

“You are familiar with my people?”

“Your people came to my village when I was a boy.”

“I see. So you know that lying to me would be embarrassing for both of us. In light of that, why are you here?” The woman’s tone is firm but not threatening, all the confidence that one should have standing on the outside of the cage bars.

Pidash considers a clever answer or two, before sighing, a wry smile wrinkling his leathery face. “I came to deliver a warning, and to offer my help. The Hegemony is coming. I overheard their plans in Moongaze, the settlement to the southwest. They are coming for the Seekers.”

“Such nobility! To brave the desert and all of its threats, just to deliver a message of warning to the helpless, defenseless Seekers. And with no expectation of reward!” That smirk was much more audible now.

“My people are friends to the Seekers, and the Hegemony are a pestilence to both our houses. We have a common enemy.” Pidash grins. “And if you wanted to employ my services against our common enemy, I would not turn down a place to stay, and food.”

The woman steps closer to the bars with a smile on her face. “Come along then. The Master has been waiting for you.”

Pidash stands and brushes himself off, grabbing a bar with one hand. “I am Pidash, although I suspect you already knew that. What do I call you?”

“My name is Yudhi.” She turns to walk off down the dark hallway. Just before she disappears into the darkness, she holds out her hand and a small hovering light appears in it and then circles around her. “And I believe you can let yourself out of that cage, yes?”

It is pointless to try to keep secrets from these ones. His insides twist and burn, and the bar rusts away under his hand.

Chaos: 5 (down)

Scene 3
Expected Scene: Audience with the Master Seeker
What’s the dramatic question: Will the Master hear the warnings and accept Pidash’s help? And what would he get in exchange?
What is the Master doing before this scene begins? Singing with one of the Choirs
Test: 8, Expected

What is the inner temple like? Occupied, Abandoned

The winding hallway eventually opens up into larger chambers. A number of them are empty and silent, and an equal number are occupied by people of all ages, wearing clothing similar to Yudhi. A minority of those are blindfolded. All told, Pidash counts around one hundred people.

All of this, beneath the hex-clad spires above. Some similar patterning is found on the walls here, and other symbols that bring to mind ages long past. Pidash isn’t sure why he assumes that, but he does. These halls, beneath these ruins, didn’t belong to the Seekers to begin with. There is very little light - the Seekers see without seeing. But in some places, a small lamp for reading, the glow of a bulb over edible plants. That bit of light, the one that hovers around Yudhi as though it has its own intentions, and Pidash’s eyes slowly adjusting.

As Yudhi leads the way, Pidash begins to hear something. At first it seemed a bit of wind at an odd angle, making a fluting or whistling sound in some distant corridor. Then, they turn a corner and enter a room and the sound is suddenly a full throated singing voice. Pidash shakes his head, mildly confused, as the sound seems to come from nowhere, and the sensation of the sound is so foreign. Yudhi’s light floats to a standing rod, and hovering there, brightens. At the same time, three other rods in the corner of the room brighten as well, like candle sticks whose flames are unwavering white spheres.

Yudhi steps forward from Pidash. “Master, I have brought the desert child.”

Pidash feels a flash of annoyance, but it is quickly subsumed by the sound he is hearing without hearing. Once Yudhi speaks, though, the music quietens, and Yudhi backs out of the room.

In the center of the room, levitating above a raised circle of stone, is the one called Master. Threadbare robes cover his crossed legs, and a yellow blindfold, in the same style as Yudhi’s, covers his eyes. Where her skin was unmarked, the Master’s cheekbones and forehead are scarred. Pidash shivers. He’s familiar with the Seeker tradition of removing one’s own eyes in pursuit of greater sight, but it unnerves him all the same.

When the Master speaks, it is the same voice as the singing voice that Pidash heard moments ago. It takes a moment for Pidash to realize the Master’s lips aren’t moving.

“Desert son, Yudhi tells me you have come to deliver us a warning. Please, drink of our water, and if you hunger, I will have food brought for you.” The voice is soft, subdued, almost sleepy. Pidash glances around the room, and behind him on a table against the wall is a crystal pitcher half filled with water. He licks his cracked lips but turns back to the hovering man.

“I will accept your hospitality in a moment, Master Seeker, and thank you for it. First, though - the Hegemony are coming for your people. There are a large number of them who just arrived in the settlement of Moongaze, and I overheard their plans. I… am not sure if there is time to evacuate your people.”

The master bows his head slightly. “There is not. Already, they have set out from Moongaze. Our scouts see them now. They leave on silt striders, war camels. There is an ornithopter in the air. We do not have time to take my people away from here.”

Setup

Pidash is in Moongaze, in a tucked away upper room at the inn. He’s known to Hegemony soldiers for some petty crimes, and has no desire to be shipped off to Gnomon. He’ll lay low until he can get away from the inn, then figure out something to do to get the soldiers to leave.

Scene 1 - Pidash sneaks out of the inn.

Test: 9. Expected scene.

Are there soldiers in and around the inn in the morning? Extreme Yes

Pidash wakes in the morning to sounds of raucous soldiers below. The odds that this specific detachment would recognize him are low, but the consequences are dire. He considers whether to lay low, which would mean remaining in his room for an extended time and consuming limited resources, or try to sneak out.

Pidash tries to wait it out. He puts his ear to the floor for a while, trying to hear some of the conversation of the soldiers and figure out what might happen next.

Are the soldiers talking about anything useful? Yes. Rolling on meaning: Truce Expectation

The soldiers are talking about their operation, which is to root out a troublesome nearby element. They are expecting it to come to an end soon. They seem to think these detractors are going to turn themselves in and then they’ll all go back to Gnomon before long.

Who are the detractors? Are they Seekers of Eyeless Wisdom? Yes

Pidash continues listening and hears references to the Seekers of Eyeless Wisdom.

Does Pidash have previous experience with the Seekers? No

He’s never comingled with the Seekers before, which isn’t to say he’s avoided them either. They’re just a bit odd folk. They never drink, which leaves out most of Pidash’s entertainment options. They speak riddles most of the time, or at least that’s how it sounds to his ear. And the only ones that come above ground are the more zealous and insistent of them, which Pidash has little patience for.

But his people know them. And the Hegemony are after them. Enemy of my enemy, and all that. So I need to figure out how to get out of here and go warn them.

He pokes his head outside the door to his room. Does he see anybody there? No

He needs a distraction - there’s simply no way he can traipse down the stairs and out the door. He goes back to his room and looks out his window. The Hegemony’s caravan is there, pulled by a few war camels. Is there an ornithopter? No Is there a stilt strutter? Yes Perfect.

If he was going to live a cursed life, he might as well enjoy the benefits of it… He does the mind-reaching-grasping pattern, his eyes unfocusing and focusing in rapid succession. The sunburst brand on his face itches, then burns, as outside, two of the legs of the stilt strutter suddenly rust through, collapsing, and crashing to the ground. Cost: d6 + PSY (1): 7

The gift racks Pidash’s body. It hurts worse than it ever has before, spasming muscles, short and shallow breaths, the throat constricts. It takes all of his concentration to move his body out of his door and down the stairs, casting a glance into the common room to see if the Hegemony soldiers took the bait and went out to investigate. Pidash pulls his head over his head and stumbles out of the inn. Dex save to go totally unnoticed: 5. One of the soldiers sees him exiting the inn, head low and hunched. Is the soldier concerned? Will they try to pursue? Yes

Pidash hears the soldier call after him, and when Pidash doesn’t turn to respond, it becomes shouting, muffled beneath the soldier’s mask but a clear command to halt. Pidash instead breaks into a run, still suffering from the physical effects of his gift. Fleeing: Dex save vs occupied item slots (9): 5

The soldier pulls out a shoddy rifle and draws a bead on Pidash. Attack roll vs AV (13): 5

A bullet pings off the chromesided building in front of Pidash as he turns the corner and disappears into the crowded market. When he’s out of sight, he tears off his cloak and tosses into a basket of fabrics sold by a silk merchant, then sits on a bench and pulls out a smoking glass. He casually draws on it as the Hegemony soldier runs through the market without casting a second glance at Pidash.

Scene ends. Chaos +1 (6).

Scene 2 - Ask around about the Seekers Location

Test: 4, Interrupt Scene, New NPC. Awkwardly Colorful, Inactive, Happy

Pidash feels his body relax with the effects of the smoking glass, filled with vine. He’s fairly confident he’s escaped trouble at this point, but he won’t be able to go back to the inn. If the Hegemony are trying to hunt down the Seekers, then to the Seekers we go. Don’t know any, though. It’s gonna take some discrete asking around.

*Questions about the NPC:
Is this person on drugs?: 89, No
NPC Behavior: Break
Action Meaning: Misuse Bureaucracy
Identity: Legal Ally
Ancestry: Synth
Name: Fane
Power source: Artificial Digestion
You were made for: Flattery
Finish: Iridescent
Form: Ape

Wandering through the markets and backstreets of Moongaze, eyes are drawn to the chrome spires that erupt from blue sands and brown mud. They are also drawn to the insanity of some of its denizens. Pidash is accosted by a small synth-ape trailing fabrics of a thousand colors. It swings from tent pole to sign to window shutter, shouting down at Pidash.

“Friend Faa! Friend Faa! You stride the sands like the great worms of the dry sea! You prowl the streets like the crag cat, rippling in the heat-haze. To where do you pounce, friend Faa?”

Pidash looks up at the creature, following its movements as he carries on down the road. “I have nothing for you, machine. Why do you pursue?”

“I want nothing from you, friend Faa, only to see and be seen! You see, I find Tarceny and his wife, those mayors of our beautiful oasis, to be prudent and ambitious to an unseemly degree. Such is not the way of Moongaze! I am made of less worldly stuffs, and more fit to carry these and those into everytomorrow!”

Pidash sighed. This is the strangest custom of this strange place. The most absurd, unreliable, unpredictable, and obnoxious are those chosen to lead the way. This iridescent ape-machine was campaigning.

“I have no interest in the politics of this place. I have neither influence nor aught to gain. Pester another, I have little patience for it.”

“Oh, friend Faa! I am wounded, I lay bleeding before you, my breath is choked from my chest. Haven’t I pleased you, haven’t I sung enough for you to put your faith in me? And that aside, I am known throughout and all that know me put their trust in me. Won’t you, friend Faa? All I ask is a token demonstration, for you to carry my signet, and I will be in your debt!” The ape-machine continually leaps in front of Pidash, never blocking his stride but staying perpetually in front of him.

“Will it cease your babbling, machine?” Pidash grumbled.

A moment passed as the synth perched on an low wall and stared at Pidash, as though he were considering if it were worth it. “I can descend into silence for it, friend Faa!”

“Then give me the thing, and be gone from my sight.”

The ape-machine hangs in front of Pidash, one reticulated arm hanging down holding a trinket, dorned with the machine’s face and the name “Fane” inscribed on it. “If you wear this at the Council Summit, it will please me so friend Faa, and you will have a friend in me as I ascend!” It swings away, to pester some other poor soul. According to the laws of Moongaze… that synthetic might be the most qualified to lead. A terrifying thought.

Chaos: Down (5)

Scene 3 - Finding the darker side of Moongaze

Test: 9, Expected Scene

Shady district, economic. Keywords Rustic, Water

Pidash wanders to the Exile’s Den. A home to pariahs, outlaws, and those looking to get out from under the gaze of the Hegemony, this hall of drinks and deal-making sits in a hollowed out water drum. Inside, the circular wall is decorated with signs of multitudes of lost homes. Faded lithographs, holoprojectors that have long since deresolved, symbols of forsaken faiths, toys of children made orphans.

The only other person here sits in a patch of sunlight that comes down through a dilapidated metal roof. He’s a weathered old man, skin the weathered faded color that represents a life in the blue sand desert. He sits on a stool against the opposite wall, legs crossed underneath him, laconic posture making him seen more a sun bathing sand lizard. He holds a musical instrument in his hand and blows through a small dry reed on one end. The music is shrill, titillating, and playful, in a register like a girl child’s voice. His eyes meet mine as I enter, but he doesn’t stop playing. The corners of his mouth curl up as to welcome me in while he continues his song, so I unstrap my laser rifle and lean it against the wall near the door.

The man finishes his song, which ends with a rather sad melody that evoked a feeling of regret in Pidash.

“What is this new thing you have written?” Pidash takes a chair from nearby and sits at a table near where the old man is perched on his stool. He loosens one of the ties on his brigandine, exhaling softly as the armor loosens on his chest. He brushes blue sand from his shirt.

“I pondered a young one’s path. I saw them step through the vine and dip their toes in the oasis, and I saw them mourn the migration of the wren. I saw them grow wise and then grow childish and then I saw them wrinkle and dry, and this perhaps was most droll of all. Thus, a tragedy! Did you enjoy it?” He grins, showing teeth stained blue from a life of amaranthine sugar.

Pidash sips water from the plastic tube at the neck of his suit, chuckling at his old friend, then a boisterous laugh at the end of the wrinkled man’s description. “Autobiography! I should have known. Vashy, you play as beautifully as ever.”

Vashy unfolds from his stool and put his instrument in a box at his feet. “Flatterer and liar, what can I do for you, desertfriend?” He walks over to the bar, each step a little bit crooked.

Pidash lowers his voice slightly. “I’m looking to find the Seekers. I have information for them.”

Vash turns back and raises his eyebrow for a moment, then picks up two glasses and a bottle of something milk white. He puts the glasses down on the table, then pauses for a moment before pouring the drink. “They are called Seekers for a reason, Faa. They don’t prefer being found. Maybe they consider it an affront to their name! What makes you think they will welcome you, whether your hands are empty or full?”

“The Hegemony are in town for them. I heard it from their mouths today. They Seekers would want to know, I’m sure.” Pidash takes a glass from Vash’s extended hand as the old man slumps into a chair.

“You are not so noble, Pidash. They should want to know, yes, but you don’t go running out into the dunes just to deliver a message out of kindness. What are you going to get out of it?”

Pidash smiles wryly. “The enemy of my enemy, Vashy. I could offer them my services. We could send them back to Gnomon with their tails tucked.” He pauses, and sheepishly adds, “And maybe the Seekers will be overcome with gratitude and I can live off of that gratitude for a season or two.”

Does Vashy know where the Seekers are? Likely: 19 Yes

“Give me your map. I will show you.”

Scene 4: Pidash travels to the Seekers’ Camp

I need: random encounter table, daily vigilance
Weather: Dust Storm
Travel Distance: 6 days, safe
Day 1: Vigilance - 1. Next encounter spots me first.
Daytime Encounter check: 3
Nighttime Encounter check: 4
Day 2: Vigilance - 6. I spot the next encounter first.
Daytime Encounter check: 6
Nighttime Encounter check: 6
Day 3: Vigilance - 2
Daytime Encounter check: 4
Nighttime Encounter check: 5
Day 4: Vigilance - 2
Daytime Encounter check: 1!
Encounter: d8 Tumblesnares
Activity: Hunting/Eating
Are the tumblesnares already eating? Very unlikely: 84 - No
Without vigilance, neither of us see the other first. I am a native of the desert, so I’m going to give myself a chance to detect the tumblesnares before they ambush me. Do I detect them before triggering the ambush? 50/50: 21 - Yes

Pidash spots a faint glimmer of metal in the sands. He pauses, unslinging his rifle and leaning on it as he surveys the blue field in front of him. The red sun is high, and glints off of something in the distance. Tumblesnares - synths in the shape of coiled wire, sitting just below the surface of the sand to ensnare careless travelers and drag them off into the deeper desert. A true danger, even to the Faa. The creatures grasp on to living prey and then roll away, battering their capture into the sands over and over again, while their prey struggles to free themselves from the barbed, snaring wire.

If they fail to free themselves, and quickly, the unfortunate creature finds itself unconscious or dead. The tumblesnares then wrap themselves around the body, and pierce the skin or hide, draining fluids to replenish the synth’s energies. Dessiccated bodies in the sands, covered in tiny cuts, are an uncommon but not rare sight in the inner sands.

Pidash shoulders his rifle and peers through the scope. There are at least two of the creatures there. He aims at an exposed glint of metal strand, pulls the trigger. Laser light flashes in front of his face and connects with the sand. A spray of melted blue fulgorite sprays into the air, and a moment later, five tumblesnares dig themselves out of the sand and flee, tumbling over, heading west, driven by the instinct for easier foods.

For his own instincts, Pidash sets his rifle down on the sands and lowers himself flat on them. He scans the horizon in every direction. The laser rifle is not particularly loud or flashy, but observant eyes would easily spot the flash of light and the spray of sand. Is there anyone on the horizon watching? Unlikely: 78 - No. After several minutes of waiting, spinning on his stomach to survey every part of the horizon, he rises to his feet, brushes sand off of his traveling robes, slings his rifle and carries on.

Nighttime Encounter check: 4
Day 5: Vigilance - 3
Daytime Encounter check: 5
Nighttime Encounter check: 3
Day 6: Vigilance - 2
Daytime Encounter check: 6
Nighttime Encounter check: 3

Chaos: 5

[This is the first in a hopefully long running series of flash fiction that I aim to write as exercises in writing daily. I will not post all of them, but this is the first, and thus feels important. This post, and I imagine many of the ones that follow, are heavily inspired by Caves of Qud (in my opinion one of the great masterpieces of science fiction of our time) and Vaults of Vaarn (which also draws inspiration from Qud). I am obsessed.]

Creice glanced at the severed head which sat on a metal chair in the middle of the room. It was only a couple of days since Creice had accomplished that goal, and the thought of it still made the muscles in his neck twitch, as though they were eager to leap into action now and do it all over again. The head, still leaking a bit of yellow sap, stared back in permanent shock. That sap made Creice’s clubbed tail feel sticky.

The room stank like age. Not dry, dusty, forgotten places but the decayed, moldering stench of a village abandoned after plague. There was no life here - not besides Creice, and the expired life of the scorpiock chieftain he had slaughtered this morning - but the room felt like it carried a history of death.

Criece discovered this room several weeks earlier, when fleeing from the same scorpiock tribe he had just returned from massacring. The sandstorm that had given him cover to flee had also revealed a narrow crack in the base of a towering rock formation. Squeezing his wide, overmuscled body into the crack, Creice found a path that led to a set of stairs, leading upwards into the spire of rock. The stairway ended in a single room, large enough to hold the feasthall of his tribe, littered with strange bits of cord, metal boxes stacked and strewn about the carved stone floor. One cylindrical chair laid on the floor at the far end of the room, a few meters away from the thing that Creice had come to believe was a god.

“APPROACH, PETTY BEING, AND RECEIVE INSTRUCTION.”

The words vibrated the room, but not through volume or force. They seemed to Creice to shake the stone itself, and his vision blurred at the edges. He found himself stepping forward unconsciously, then stopped. He deliberated. Something within him fought to approach, something intrinsic, something buried in his genetic memory, as though every one of his ancestors were rising up from their afterlife and pushing him forward. But he was also afraid. It was a feeling he rarely acknowledged, but in this moment he gave it its full berth.

In the end, that thing that he knew as his true nature won out, and he walked to the thing that spoke. It seemed to hover in the air, about a meter off the ground. It looked like a tangle of chrome pipes, knotted in impossible geometries. Three, maybe four meters in diameter. It rotated slowly - or, perhaps it was the tangle of pipes tying and untying itself repeatedly that gave it the illusion of rotation. The light of Creice’s glowbulb in his hand reflected pink-white off of the god-thing.

“BRING ME THE HEAD OF A MORTAL ENEMY, AND RECEIVE THE BLESSING OF METACHROME.”

Those words imprinted on his mind like a burning brand, and in the early, pre-dawn darkness of the desert morning, as he cut down warriors and elders alike on his way to the chieftain who had cursed him, he mumbled the words under his breath over and over and over.

The head of the chieftain, black eyes wide in fixed horror, strings of beads wrapped around chitinous spines, sat beside Creice on the cylindrical seat. The god-thing seemed to pulse, swelling outward, as though each of the chrome pipes were about to burst. The head next to Creice dematerialized.

“BLESSINGS OF THE METACHROME.”

Thus did Creice become known as the Warlord of the Chrome Glove. His reign over the inner desert lasted 89 years, until his death at the end of the Insutan Rebellion.