Summary
The group sets out in search of a Torumekian plane downed in the Sea of Corruption, meeting Worm Handlers and a lost little girl, and discovering an ancient crypt from the days before.
Player characters
- Arcus the Pejitie Mechanic, played by David (diregrizzlybear).
- Carda the heretical scholar, played by Sam S.
- Nessa, a spy-on-the-run, played by Ven (gendernihilist).
Details
Gathering together for an afternoon tea, the group discusses their day and contemplates investigating the plume of smoke rising out of the Sea of Corruption where a Torumekian ship was said to have been downed just a day before their arrival.
The locals nervously commentated on the situation, wondering if a fire could rouse the Ohmu. The proprietor of the cafe the party had settled in commented that Sahin Village had found bunkers deep below the mountains, and could always retreat there.
Nessa though that being trapped in would not suit her predicament, so the band decided to go investigate, if only to serve as some form of a fire brigade.
Taking off in the Kingfisher, they circled the plane around the crash site, seeing that the forest had indeed been scarred by the dive the plane took. Seeing how it was about one mile into the forest, they landed just outside. Arcus peered out in the distance and saw a handful of Worm Handlers dismantling pieces from an oddly exposed Ohmu corpse.
Hailing the people, the party reassured that they were not there to steal their find but were instead looking for information. One of the Handlers spoke up, saying they would be happy to trade for food or wealth. Cadra reassured them with a coin minted from her tribe, ingratiating her to the Handlers.
They spoke of three Dorok rangers, well equipped, who made their way to the downed plane shortly after its crash. They witnessed the three leave, with one of their members significantly wounded, carried out on a stretcher. They said that they headed back north, away from the village.
The group chatted more with these Handlers and then set off for the flying machine. Trekking about a mile, crossing a stream, they finally came upon a massive Torumekian airship, cracked down the center, with the nose of the machine lurching over a sinkhole. Arcus pointed out the Pejitei markings, and Nessa discovered sickly, sticky eggsacks dotting the craft, and while the plane seemed well-stocked, she did not find anyone aboard.
Checking the front of the ship, Nessa pointed to a pool of unnatural liquid, seemingly seeping from within the plane. As it touched organic material smoke or steam was expressed. Nessa thought back to war secrets between the two empires, and recalled hearing of a similar fluid contained in coils or batteries that the Torumekians had suspected could be utilized for power or perhaps warfare.
Carda and Arcus started investigating the read of the ship, looking for supplies while Nessa decided to return to the Worm Handlers to see if their slugworms could find the missing passengers, or if they knew what these sacks were. The two found a locked storeroom door, and behind it a small little girl sheepishly cried out to be left alone, saying that she would only open the door for her mother.
The two questioned her, and she had said that someone came and took everyone away, but her mother put her in this room and told her to lock it. She claimed whoever took the other passengers came back and started shooting.
Nessa returned with the Handlers, they identified the egg sacks as being some kind of wasp egg, but unfamiliar to what they have had seen, and that such insects were not common to this area of the forest. The slugworms sought out the missing passengers, and they converged on the sinkhole. Exposed down a slope of earth the group spied a set of bunker doors, composed of a metal that Arcus has only heard of in the deepest crypts around.
Nessa spoke with the small girl, convincing her that they were to search for her mother, whom the girl purported to be a very important person. Nessa convinced her to open the door, and the little girl asked for food. Nessa was surprised because the small girl was in a store bunker, and they were in the Sea anyways, but obliged and returned with a bar of nuts and berries given by Carda.
The child stuffed the bar into her bag, and told Nessa that her name was Olmay. While her clothing was dirty from the crash, her clothing and demeanor indicated that she was someone of importance. Carda, not knowing how to deal with children, tries to either calm or threaten or both the child by claiming that she is indeed her mother now. Nessa is horrified by this.
The group descends down the slope towards the bunker doors, throwing it open they find an ancient, pristine hallway. Very orderly without the clutter and shanty constructions they are used to. Lighting lanterns and proceeding down the hall they come upon an open shaft with a ladder descending down, a cable seemingly runs from the ceiling over this shaft deep down below.
The crew descends, paying the Worm Handlers to follow. Nessa finds a floor, but standing upon it, it seems to move just slightly, seemingly suspended from the cable. She looked out and saw an opening, about half her high seemingly descending below the platform on which she stood.
Deciding to climb up to find another such opening above, Nessa pulled herself and pried open a set of shiny double door, exposing a large cooridor.
Carda tried to climb up with a heavy lantern to give to Nessa, but was unable to safely bring it without risking falling, so she tossed the lantern, which bounded off the floor, cracking it. This made the lantern begin to flicker here and there every few seconds, providing a strobe effect in the crypt.
Carda asked if Olmay could climb up herself, but the child said it would be too hard. Carda noted that this was the problem with children, their pathetic weak bodies incapable of caring for themselves. Olmay apologized and hoisted onto Carda’s back as the climbed, with Arcus following behind.
Down the cooridor they spied an odd red light. Arcus tip toed towards it, passing doors on his left and right, and he saw a turret gun mounted on the ceiling, covered in a motley of cabling and tubes. Carda threw a stone on the floor in front of it, and it oriented its barrel at the stone and shot.
The group decided to try one of the other doors, finding a room lined with machinery and glass tubing, containing many liquids of a three colors, yellow, violet, and blue. Carda opens a machine, finding frost wafting out, and takes a beaker containing one of each color.
In the north of the room they see many cabinets and tables have been toppled against the wall. Nessa and the Handlers work to remove it, exposing a 3′ round hole in the wall, lined with a dark grey goop. The Handlers tell the party that the slugworms do not trust this material, and Nessa notes that she would rather not getting it on her. So the group sets off to explore other avenues.
Thoughts
Overall this was a fun session. We did note there was a bit of a pacing issue. I think everyone was kind of trying to not talk over each other, so there ended up being a lot of dead air. Next time I may try a rotating caller – let one player kind of be the lead so they are the ones who are expected to tell me whats going on, but they can question and communicate with the other players before actions are “locked in” so to speak.
I often try to run this way, but I also always try to respond to any request with information. So sometimes when a player is like “what’s in this thing over here”, the way I narrate indicates that they have indeed moved and changed the situation, whereas I should get a corium on what everyone is up to first.
Typical voice roleplay stuff, but I also take silence as an indication that perhaps I haven’t given enough info, so I’ll start talking again, which I think is a vicious cycle that makes it hard for the players to know when to talk, so we get silence, so I start filling more, on and on and on 😛
For mechanical stuff – I asked the players to fill in bits about the Kingfisher. We got awesome descriptions of early planes, how it was obviously stolen because the party didn’t fill up many of the seats on the plane. Most of the turrets were gunless on account of them not prioritizing rearming them, so many of the bubbles were just fun hangouts for the crew. We also realized that they probably haven’t operated the main cannon since getting the gunship.
For Ven’s question as to if Nessa knew the fluid seeping out of the plane, I did do a contested roll off, but instead of the typical Primeval 2d6 “what’s the risk and who narrates”, I did more a “you definitely know this as a war spy, but how much do you know?”
The other roll was Sam S. saying Carda lobbed the lantern, with the risk being potentially damaging it. Since he didn’t roll to low, it cracked the lantern, but didn’t break it, hopefully giving me opportunity to play with spooky bits if the party continues searching this crypt.
The “crypt” being a dungeon crawl is fun. I had a little trouble explaining everything to the players because I was trying to say it as they saw it, but at one point I felt like we had enough of a lull or confusion around my descriptions that I was like “you’re in what we know as an elevator, but maybe only Arcus has seen this sort of thing before.”
Its definitely a hook I pulled up to try to play off of some of the players’ goals, but I’m also trying to balance it with “this is just how the world is.” So far I think we’re all doing a good job at aiming at themes and color that the comic provides, but I am as always interested in other peoples’ perspectives.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read. I am very much looking forward to the next session of this.