OOC: so I had this long, arduous post about what was going on around the island as Blendin’s pet gets off its leash, and starts bashing things up. Blendin is passed out, the ugly whore is asking Xisco to save her, the battlepriest is trying to shield lives with the help of the captain inside the Priest, while Harmony is picking up the pieces outside.
But frankly, no. I think that scene ends very well with the point of view character for that scene (Blendin) passing out.
So here is what I’m going to do instead. Everyone picks up one point. This is not punishment or a commentary – it was a small encounter, so one point. Blendin, you ding. I’ll need an advance via email if you please.
Below, I am picking up the game 4 weeks later, as the Olic is pulling into port at Mount Ore. I want 3 things from 3 of you, and 1 thing from the other.
Xisco, Harmony, and Gardner: The first thing I want you guys to provide is an interlude below before responding to this post. Recall, these will basically be small, paragraph or three, character-voice stories. Xisco, I want you to tell a story of a great success to your mates while doing shipboard chores. This can be any manner of success, obviously. Gardner, I want you to provide a story of tragedy, based on something you see in the 4 weeks of travel. You decide what you see, and what it means to the spry ol’ captain. Harmony, I want you to tell a story about love to Fairfield that is overheard by the others – it can involve you directly, or not, or maybe it does but you say it doesn’t. Maybe its not even romantic love...
In addition, I want each of you (Xisco, Harmony, Gardner) to email me 3 things that happened as you left the island. These are not to be shared, per se. If it’s something everyone would have noticed (a crewmember died defending the ship from angry villagers), it will be shared, obviously. If it’s something they might not have (you stole the battlepriest’s ring off his lifeless body), I’ll have it be a character ‘secret’. The limit here is really ‘is it cool.’ If its cool, then its canon.
Finally, I want you to each send me the role you played in getting Blendin back to the ship. I’ll forward the first of these I receive to the other 2, and do this iteratively until we have a story of how blendin got outta there. The thought I have is that no one has really talked to blendin about dragging his ass outta there, yet. He just woke up aboard the ship, with the island a speck behind the stern. Don’t wait to post on account of this, we can develop what happened leaving Tuvalu while we’re playing in the current time.
Blendin, you have the easy job. Post an interlude where Blendin opens up about the last time he got the snot kicked out of him. This can be grumpy or funny or whatever, take your pick. Also, I’m in the process of writing and will be sending you a series of visions and dreams that you have over the course of the four weeks. You can share these or not as you wish with your crewmembers.
Oh, and your bracelet is no longer on your character sheet. But wind elementals are pesky, I’m sure he’s around here somewhere…
The Olic creaks as the winches along the docks tighten the chains of copper that are holding it to the docking platform. The bronze docking platform begins to move with a jolt, retracting on a telescoping arm into the open cave along the towering curved wall of the Mount.
Once in the shadows, the crew can make out a dozen or so other docking platforms, most bearing a ship of similar size; this is one of the smaller docking ‘bays’ on the island.
Mount Ore is pockmarked with caves on the outside, and you can see dozens of tunnels leading from this docking bank. A thin curtain of tin rattles shut behind you sealing out most of the Voidlight. The ship finishes its traverse inside with a hiss of steam.
Dwarves swarm over the various mechanisms that are securing ships in place; they seem generally uninterested in the ship or its crew. They each wear a badge of office: a helmet with tiny lantern on the front, glowing faintly, and a series of springy metal loops to which they attach tools of their given role when not in use.
The heat this far down has left each of you parched and sweaty; the ship has been like an oven for the past few days. The cooled air inside this cave is a welcome relief, as are the slowly spinning metal-bladed fans cooling equipment.
A small guardhouse is visible at the hub of this group of docking platforms. By the windows carved into the rock, you’d expect a platoon or two occupy it at all times, but today it looks as if there’s at least three times that present. The Dwarven King’s Sigil, a cart of iron on a blue and white checked field, hangs above the door.
You also see what appears to have been the Trade Council office: there are signs of a recent fire there, scarring the openings, and the windows are dark.
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Email sent with the 3 things and Harmony's contribution to saving Blendin. Will post love story later.
ReplyDeleteHarmony's story, part 1:
ReplyDeleteA few days out from Tuvalu, Harmony is working on her new dagger, tightening the springy mechanical catch that locks it into the sheath and working out the dents in the walnut-sized lead pommel, when Fairfield sits down near her.
"Neat knife," he comments. "Why's the ball lead, though? Isn't it a pain to work out the scratches and dents?"
Harmony continues working, but smiles at the boy. "Yes, it is, but it's a small price to pay."
She shows him how the catch keeps the dagger in the sheath, allowing the person to hold the sheath and use the pommel as a club. "It's lead beacuse lead is heavy but soft, so you can knock someone out without cracking their skull. Gold would work, too, but it costs more."
Fairfield nods, but then asks, "Why not just stab them, though? I mean, if you're attacking someone, and you have a dagger..."
Harmony smiles sadly. "Don't let some things this crew does rub off on you, Fairfield. People fight all the time without killing each other. Sometimes you have to stop someone you care about from doing something terrible. If you're like me, you can't do that with your fists, so you need a cudgel. And if you're carrying a knife anyway, why not make it both, right? In fact, that's how this type of dagger was invented."
When Fairfield continues to show interest, Harmony takes a deep breath and begins her story.
"A few generations ago, there was a human woman named Lorna who was a battlesmith, a follower of the Battlelord who believed in keeping the peace through fighting, but also by making the best implements of battle possible. She wanted to make great weapons that could slay demons and Voidpriests and liches with a single blow, armor that could take a blow from an ogre. She was a fair warrior herself, but she lacked the knowledge to make such exceptional equipment.
Knowing that the followers of the Artificer were, naturally, the best such craftsmen, Lorna traveled to Mt. Ore, where we're going now, to apprentice under one of the smiths there. Most of them rejected her because she was human and did not follow the Artificer. Being a woman probably did not help much, either." Harmony grins wryly.
"She had been rejected by nearly all the weaponsmiths on Mt. Ore--and there's no small number of them--when she stopped by the forge of a young smith who had just set up his own shop. She found the door closed and knocked, only to get a growl of "Go away!" from inside.
Frustrated and angry, she kicked in the door to give the dwarf a piece of her mind face-to-face, and found a trio of dwarves holding another's face over the forge, his beard crinkling in the heat.
"Without hesitation, Lorna drew her longsword and attacked, and in short order her long arms and long blade had slain all three torturers. As it turned out, the dwarf being burned was Arnor the owner of the new smithy, and the three attackers had been sent by another smith who treated metalworking like the Piemakers Guild treats, well, most businesses.
"Arnor asked Lorna what reward she would like for saving him, and offered to make her a suit of steel plate and chainmail, or a pattern-welded sword far better than the one she had, either of which would have been worth a small fortune. Lorna declined and said she would rather make those things herself, if someone would teach her how, to which Arnor grinned and confessed he was looking for an apprentice and would be honored to have her as one.
"The pair worked together for months, Lorna helping as an apprentice does and learning the tricks of metalworking. As they worked, the pair grew comfortable with each other, so that Arnor felt no qualms about about guiding Lorna's hands from close behind her as she sat at a workbench or forge, and she sometimes asked for help with things instead of simply trying on her own, just to have him do so.
Harmony's Story, Part 2:
ReplyDelete"Soon Lorna was nearly as good at many smithing skills as Arnor, and began offering suggestions on how to improve the fit of armor and the balance or design of blades, based on her experiences with both. Arnor's equipment soon gained a reputation as some of the most comfortable and elegant around, but many dwarves refused to buy from him, either because the design was strange, or out of chauvanism against his apprentice.
"Even so, business was good. But the rival smith who'd sent the henchmen in the first place had a long memory. He'd had to lay low after the failed intimidation to avoid being arrested, but by now he was ready to get revenge on both Arnor and Lorna. He bribed Arnor's coal supplier to replace some of the coal with chunks of gunpowder, hoping to blow up both of his enemies when they dumped it into a hot forge.
"Fortunately, as often happens, things did not go according to plan. The trapped bag was only partly comprised of explosive, the rest being regular coal. Had the whole bag been lit, it would have been quite lethal. Instead, Arnor used only a small amount from that bag to top off the forge one day. The explosion broke the forge and started a fire, but Lorna and Arnor escaped and saved most of their tools and stock.
"When Arnor confronted his coal supplier with a once-again singed beard and a very angry Lorna at his back, the supplier confessed everything. Unfortunately, he had no way to prove the allegations to the authorities, so it was likely that the rival smith would escape serious punishment and be free to try again.
"Lorna told Arnor she refused to let the other smith have another chance to kill him, and that she planned to kill their enemy first. Arnor objected, but only because he did not want to lose Lorna to prison, death, or exile. After a pause to consider her feelings, Lorna finally asked Arnor to come with her into exile. They could set up shop elsewhere together. Arnor hesitated only a moment before agreeing.
"Arnor traded finished goods for a skiff and some more stock metals to suppliment what he'd saved from the fire, while Lorna trained, brushing off her warrior's skills. In a fewdays, all was ready, and Lorna ambushed the rival smith and easily slew him. Before anyone found his body, the pair had boarded Arnor's skiff and fled the island.
"Alone together on their ship, away from the prejudiced eyes of the dwarves, the human and the dwarf were finally able to confess their feelings for one another. They became lovers as well as partners.
"Arnor knew of a way to modify the steam engine on the dwarven skiff so that it could serve as a forge when docked, which is still not uncommon for certain dwarven ships. They traveled the Skies together, docking at various islands and making and selling tools, weapons, and armor.
They did this for many years together, working, living, and sailing happily with one another and their mutual craft.
Harmony's story, Part 3:
ReplyDelete"But the Void is not a safe place, as you know. Their armored dwarven skiff could avoid most dangers, and their dwarven cannon often dealt with others, but one day a ship of Voiders attacked the couple. Grapeshot killed most of the glowmad, and Lorna has been teaching Arnor to fight. Both had excellent armor and weapons, as well, so the pair was able to kill the remaining glowmad as they tried to board the little skiff and attack through the small hatches and gunports. Dwarven ships are notoriously hard to board.
"Voiders, like their god, are cunning as well as mad, though. The Glowpriest had stayed back on their ship. When Arnor exposed himself to cut loose the grapples holding the vessels together, the Glowpriest shot him with bolts of concentrated Glow, driving him partially mad.
"Now, often, a mostly-Glowmad person will lash out at anyone around, and Arnor was already armed and armored, and his blood was up. Lorna was both the closest living being, and the only one around who was not a follower of the Lightbringer, but such was his love for her that instead of attack her, he began to climb out of their ship to attack the Glowpriest and remaining Voiders on theirs.
"Lorna knew what such bolts could do from her years as a warrior, and realized what was happening. She knew her only chance was to knock her love out until he could recover from the madness. If she tried to hold him, he would struggle and the Voiders would get them both. She had only seconds to stop him and he was wearing a helmet, and the only weapons she had in hand were her dagger and her longsword. She grabbed his helm with one hand, snatching it off, and tried to strike him with the flat of her sword, but it glanced off the low ceiling. As he tried to leap at the Voiders, she held him and tried to knock him out with her pommel, but the blow was not strong enough to overcome his sturdy dwarven constitution and Glowmadness. Arnor broke free and leapt at the Voiders, and Lorna could only watch as the crew fought him until the Glowpriest hit him with more bolts of Voidlight and her love began to transform before her eyes.
"Distraught, but still a warrior, Lorna used the distraction to throw several charges of gunpowder as the Voider ship, followed by hot coals, and freed her skiff while they were stunned by the explosions. Once out of boarding range, she methodically blew the ship apart with her cannons, sending the remaining Glowmad plunging down through the Void toward their doom, including the thing that had been her love."
Harmony pauses and swallows the lump in her throat. "Lorna continued to travel the Skies for years, making and selling weapons where she landed, but now all of her daggers were like this one, so that their owners would have a way to stop someone without killing them.
"Her story became very well-known among the dwarves, and today many younger female dwarves are named Lorna after her, when before that was a human name." Harmony blinks, and slowly pulls the blade of the dagger from its sheath, exposing the blunt base where the guard meets the blade proper.
"Lorna took the name of Arnor's clan as her surname after he died, though the Smitan clan never officially approved it." Harmony turns the dagger so Fairfield can see it, letting the light catch the stylized "LS" at the base. "She signed all her blades with her new initals, though."
Harmony's story, the conclusion:
ReplyDeleteHarmony sheathes the dagger, letting the catch click as it locks the blade in. She tucks the sheath through her belt, where a simple brass knob keeps it from slipping out.
"So you see, Fairfield, being able to kill can save yourself and those you care about, but being able to stun without killing can do the same, and sometimes do so when killing could not." With that the small woman stands up and goes to check on the tiller, which has been squeaking lately, leaving the young man to sit in silence for a minute until Taz calls him to help with a piece of stuck rigging.
So...it's been over a week and no one else has posted...
ReplyDeleteSince I have lots of free time at work because my job is awesome (hence the 13,000-character story), I thought I'd help get people back on track by reviewing the stuff we planned to do here on Mt. Ore.
1. Settle Tooly's affairs. We, of course, have to deliver Tooly's possessions to his kin and possibly purchase some of them back, like maybe his windcharm, the unidentified magical charm, and his repeating musket. Maybe his armor, too.
2. Reinforced hold. This is the place to get the Ollie's cargo capacity doubled with a reinforced hold, bringing it up to the level of the old Swoose.
3. Dwarven cannon. If we can, it would be good to get some nice metal dwarven cannon, which I believe have 50% more range as well as being less likely to fail catastrophically.
4. Other mods? We never did get around to modifying the ship to allow all 4 guns to be used on one side, which would generally double the effective firepower of the ship in most fights.
Another possible mod would be something that lets a single gunner control more than one cannon. This is especially important now that Tooly's gone, so we have no good backup gunner, especially if we put all 4 cannon on one side.
If the GM allows, we might look into getting a Long Tom-type gun. The SS sourcebook is sadly deficient in cannon variations, which actually makes sense with the preponderance of wooden guns we pay with. However, the dwarves with their metal-casting would be able to make bigger guns, or maybe just longer-barreled ones. Maybe we could replace 2 of our guns with one bigger one that can switch sides, leaving one small gun per side, and allowing Blendin to really take full advantage of his abilities.
5. Cargo. Of course, given the low metal prices here, we should sell all our lumber and medicinals and load up on as much bronze or iron as possible. The metal-banded wooden guns Tooly made would be best sold elsewhere if we replace them here, though, as no one on Mt. Ore will give good prices on them.
Okay, that's everything I remember or came up with. If I forgot anything, now would be a good time to post it.
That out of the way, let me get the ball rolling on "current" events:
Harmony looks around, drinking in the sights, sounds and smells of the dwarven facilities. She's wearing her armor, her new dagger stuck through her belt and her necklace nestled between her breasts. Her healing gun is tucked through the back of her belt as usual. She fans herself with the hat she got from the villagers, then lets it dangle from its strap on her back.
The small woman turns to Gardner. "Captain, it might be best if I make first contact with the authorities, here. Dwarves are...insular people, and they tend to take better to someone who speaks their language, even if the know Common. It'll get us off on the right foot, especially if they know I'm a sort of pilgrim to the Artificer, though He's on Deepsky, not here. This is as far as most non-dwarves can go, of course." She smiles brightly as she waits for an answer.
closing this thread for now. New thread up now.
ReplyDelete