Crash Cow

One Shot Open Table Play Report

Mythic Bastionland

The Amber Knight

The Fanged Knight

Myths

The Toad - NW Island

The Boar - Centre Island

The Troll - NE Island

The Plague - SW Island

The Bull - radiant

*I have altered the Wilderness Roll to be: 1: radiant myth, 2-3: myth from corresponding island.

Prologue

Two players showed up for this session, one of which played the Fanged Knight previously and was keen to follow the lead dropped by the Rotten Seer in the last session. The Amber Knight was down for anything.

We left off in Sudden Storm [003.003] last time, but decided that this session should start after a brief voyage to the main island.

Havenbrook - 007.006

Morning saw the Company disembark close to Havenbrook, a sleepy hamlet. The Amber Knight, who recently came into substantial wealth, gave the captain a meagre tip. The captain, expecting nothing but to serve the knights, took this with much gratitude.

In Havenbrook the Company was welcomed by Eldric, a recent retiree who in his free time has taken up falconry (much to the chagrin of the inhabitants across the sea who are trying to get their post-dove business off the ground). The Fanged Knight asked for the location of a prominent vineyard on the island and the only one Eldric knew of was one along the northern coast, but that had stood empty for an age. Rumour has it that the manor was abandoned when the family was brutally murdered. The Company couldn't wait to visit!!

Eldric gave the Company some smoked dove meat for their travels.

Bull 1 - Wyvern's Rest - 007.005

The Company, traversing a forest, came upon an unusual clearing where the grasses were dead and matted, but rose bushes grew strong and their flowers bloomed lovely red, green and blue. Twelve acolytes entered from the opposite side and soon desired to spread the good news of the Green Bull to the Company.

Since the acolytes were seeking a safe location for the Green Bull they asked the Company to speak not of this meeting until such a place had been located. The knights, with little interest in the topic generally, were quick to accept.

The acolytes gave the Company some freshly plucked fruits for their travels.

Once the acolytes had left the Fanged Knight regretted not biting the bull.

Edynn Yonder - 007.004

A single tree rises out of the forest, the underside of it's canopy an impressive 50 metres off the ground. The direct vicinity teeming with lush flowers and fruit bearing plants, squirrels and birds. The Company settled down and made camp close to the trunk of the tree.

In the morning the Amber Knight was awoken by a fluffy tailed red squirrel. My players noted the idyllic nature of the session so far and I told them to blame the dice (and Chris?).

Bull 2 - 007.003

In a previous session a Company had encountered the dead (dying?) stag from a Wyvern omen, as a result I had decided that a spectral stag roams this hex, protecting those in danger and just doing stag things. So when the Company stumbled upon a group of nomads singing and dancing in celebration, I added the stag too. I tried to paint this in the same comfy-vibe that the session had been going, but the blood lust of my players was too strong and they suspected a cult-like ritual was underway.

The Company got closer and heard that the folks were singing what equates to sea-shanties of folk that live off the land. I had no idea if there was a better way to describe this, but my players got the intent. The Amber Knight was spotted first and invited to join in. He was somewhat reluctant until a 6-year old girl grabbed two fingers and tried to drag the Amber Knight to the ring of music and dancing. This turned out to be greatly successful.

The Fanged Knight soon joined and the Company was informed that the celebration was in name of the Green Bull that has brought magnificent boons to the lands. The Company was a little more at ease, but still had little desire to linger. They had someplace to be, so they departed.

Amarone - 008.003

Upon the sun touching the horizon the Company came across neglected fields of grapevines, overrun by wild plants, but thanks to the Green Bull these vines were heavy with fruit yet again!! (Aint the Green Bull just swell, hope nothing bad happens to it!)

Atop the crest of the hill sat the ruined manor, crumbled walls and broken tiles. The Company decided to remain outside the walls and made camp aside a shattered fountain. In the final moments of evening-light the Amber Knight caught a glimpse of a spectral being gliding within the walls. The Company had no desire to slumber next to a haunting being like this so they wasted no time in picking up arms and entering the broken manor.

The ghostly being led them to a room further in the manor that once held an indoor swimming pool. I was probably too subtle with this, but the ghost is of a previous Fanged Knight that perished at sea. This room has a connection seeing as there is a pool. Not something that affects the story, but it made sense to me :).

After a brief chit chat the current Fanged Knight player realised this was her former Fanged Knight. So they soon became besties! The ghost wished to say final goodbyes to her friend Meredith, but her loss of connection to the material world had taken her memory of the land. Although she did remember it being just south of the volcano. She had been calling from this manor at many who came close, but the Company were the first to actually near the house. She admitted that in hindsight this wasn't too surprising.

Having a new destination the Company set out first thing in the morning.

Boar 1 - 008.004

During their lunch break the Company noticed the ground below them undulating and they decided to eat the rest of their lunch on horseback.

Bull 3 - Wyvern's Rest - 007.005

Arriving back in the clearing with dead grass and bushy roses, the Company heard a high-pitched scream behind the tree line and immediately headed off to investigate. There before them lay the Green Bull, covered in blood and struggling to breathe. The Fanged Knight and the ghostly Fanged Knight thought they could bite it back to life (some kind of new age medicine I think?) and several acolytes returned as their teeth sank into the creature.

There was a substantial kerfuffle as the Company attempted to plead innocence while the blood of the Green Bull covered the chin and lips of the Fanged Knights. An acolyte said she had turned for just a few seconds when the Green Bull disappeared from her sight. She sought it out and found it lying here bleeding. She went to call the others, upon her return these knights had "moved in to finish the job" (her words). The evidence was not in the Company's favour.

The Fanged Knight said to the Amber Knight, and I quote: "The easiest way is to kill all of them so the word can't get out". I reminded them of the "Serve the Realm" part of their oath and was rebutted with, and I paraphrase "well we can't serve anyone if they think we killed the bull". A surprisingly convincing argument.

The session had clearly taken a severe turn and the Company had landed with both feet in a bit of a pickle. The table discussed options and all decided that the best way forward was to take three prisoners (the acolyte's words, I'm sure the Company would prefer some euphemism like "bound travellers" or "totally not hostages") and the rest were to take the corpse of the Green Bull to Edynn Yonder. The main reason the acolytes took this deal was because the knights offered their blades as a sign of goodwill.

Bull 4 - 007.007

This omen calls for a pack of five guards to make an immediate attack. But I deemed it more appropriate that there were only two of them and that parlaying was possible. The Company demanded one of the acolytes clear up the situation, but the acolyte still held the Company responsible for the murder of the Green Bull and yelled that out as soon as they could.

And so the guards moved in for combat.

Highlights:

• Two knights threw crystals they had scavenged during the Cave myth at the two guards (d10 blast each). After armour was accounted for a total of 1 damage was dealt.
• The acolytes made into the woods and started pelting rocks at the knights. I kept on rolling 1's and 2's though.
• The Amber Knight tried to hold an acolyte hostage in an attempt to pause the fighting. I think there needs to be a term for this level of benevolent evil.

The Company mortally wounded the two guards, although at one point it looked like they were on the ropes. The acolytes were aghast, accusing the Company of seeking ever more bloodshed. They claimed they would only negotiate if the knights attempted to save one of the guards. The Company thought this fair and helped one of the wounded guards (they disappointingly chose the ginger). One of the acolytes fled into the woods, the other two were still weary. The Fanged Knight offered to reveal the truth by biting them, it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the acolytes didn't buy this. The Fanged Knight wanted to show the bite would not harm them and demonstrated on the Amber Knight. During this demonstration the two remaining acolytes fled into the woods.

Epilogue

The Company reached Meredith's Cabin [008.007]. Meredith nursed the guard who now will probably play an important role in the next session. Chris recently did a blog post about knights from different realms who have a different oath and some other changes. I might just roll up my sleeves and make a  template for leaf-clad guards.

The ghost spent several days with Meredith. Her company was much enjoyed but Meredith was eventually the one who convinced her that moving on might be for the best. She agreed and after Meredith squeezed her hand one last time dissipated into nothing.

This session has set up the next one-shot pretty well. The Company has to deal with their tarnished name.

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Mythic Bastionland