Finding Eurydice

Finding Eurydice

One Shot Open Table Play Report

Mythic Bastionland

The Fanged Knight

Myths

The Tree - SW Region
The Elephant - SE Region
The Lion - NW Island
The Demon - NE Island
The Rock - radiant

*I have altered the Wilderness Roll to be: 1-2: radiant myth, 3-4: myth from corresponding island.

Prologue

Only one player showed up for today's game. So this marks the second time running a 1-on-1 game of Mythic Bastionland. I let the Leaf Knight tag along, so that if combat occurred the odds were slightly more favourable to the Company.

The Company had entered a new realm during the previous session. The goal was to find the woman (the seer) and then pretty much improvise from that point onwards. The previous session ended at Bolwane and I asked the player if we could start there for this session, since this realm was unfamiliar territory.

Bolewane - 001.004

This realm has a huge tree in the sky and this justifiably seemed odd to the Fanged Knight, so he asked around in Bolewane. Master Elric was more than happy to speak of many tales of the land, but few had actionable information. His tomes and scrolls seemed to hold fairy tales and conspiracy theories.

Tree 4 - Ghost of Eleanor - 003.005

On the way to the fort the Company came upon six travelling mercenaries who were intent on cutting down the tree. They were a merry bunch and saw this as a nice distraction from their normal duties. The Company asked about the realm in general and then asked that when the great tree is felled, if a cutting could be kept for the Leaf Knight. The intent is to take it back to the original realm and I am looking forward to what will result when (if?) that occurs.

Their conversation was interrupted by rising mist and the piercing screams nearby (they had walked into a hazard!). The Company lingered while the mercenaries graciously bid the knights farewell and made a speedy exit.

A ghostly apparition of a young woman in gala dress materialised (to a certain extent) and tried to ward the knights off. The horses got kinda spooked but the Fanged Knight bit them to calm them down. The ghost was not very chatty so the Company let her be and sought out enough distance to sleep in peace, but that screaming travelled hill and valley and some in the party had a harrowed rest.

This is another moment where, looking back, I realise that being up close to the ghost should definitely lead to being shaken to the degree that SPI loss would be fitting. Darn!

Tree 5 - 004.006

The next day brought persistent thunder storms. The lightning alternating between striking the ground and striking the giant realm spanning tree, causing a hail of bark and mulch. At one point a strike was so strong it brought a great branch plummeting into the valley that lay before the Company. Bearlike creatures had clung to the branch and were now surveying the area they had landed.

The Company kept a safe distance and the battering rain helped them pass by unnoticed. I hope the creatures don't terrorise the land.

Rock 2 - 005.006

I skipped Omen 1, intending on keeping it for description of the Rock itself for when the Company possibly visits.

After avoiding more falling branches the Company crossed paths with a pleasant dancing farmer woman who was joined by her flock of geese and dragging the wrapped corpse of her late grandpa Niall. She spoke fondly of the man and that he had been a warrior worthy of the best of burials, namely a great ceremony at the Rock.

The player had been through enough Mythic Bastionland too not find too much odd about this. So the Company had a brief exchange and then both parties went off on their way.

Fort Glamis Donan - 005.007

A brief stop over at the Seat of Power. The Company mentioned they had horses on loan from the fine folks at Bolwane and the Marshall couldn't allow that to continue, so he gave the knights some fine horses, clad in soft blue fabric bearing the Fort's shield (a sly marketing ploy!!). 

Rock 3 - 006.008

The Company came upon an alabaster knight guarding a fig tree with his python companion. The Leaf Knight yearned for a leaf or two but was warded off by the guarding knight. The snake started throwing baseless accusations and the Company moved on before things got dicey.

Lake Stennisse - 007.008

The Company had arrived at their destination, a lake of such sublime blue that it made the sky above pale in comparison.

There were four mercenaries hanging around close to the waterline. I kicked myself for first describing them and then realising I should've made them soldiers of the fort, dang! They seemed off to the Company who was here to rescue a woman in hiding, so clearly it was important to avoid these fellows.

The Company quickly found the cave the woman was hiding in (it's almost as if the woman knew where the Company would start looking and she positioned herself accordingly!) and entered. A family of moles inspected the Company and then happily greeted them after confirming that these were the awaited knights.

The woman was in the next chamber, but she wished under no circumstances to be observed in any way. She was wrapped in cloth, but the Fanged Knight thought that might be insufficient, so she left some rope on a rock and spoke loudly: "Here is some nice rope, anyone who needs it could take it. Now I am going to look at that wall for five minutes." And after five minutes the rope was gone.

The Fanged Knight then walked to the entrance of the cave, place a nice sturdy stick on the ground and said "Here is a nice stick, it would really be cool if someone made an arrow to show me where to go. Now I am going to walk to that tree and back." 

Final Thoughts

As the Tree myth progressed I realised I didn't want the Tree to topple with zero interaction as it would in omen 6. So I plan to avoid omen 6 and to spend some time between sessions determining what omen(s) should follow. I feel the presence of the Tree and the strange creatures that keep falling to the realm are pretty great and could lead to a lot of cool stuff happening in the realm. 

The omens that triggered today were easy to ignore. I mentioned this to the player who had little issue with this, since the the realm is growing more interesting and there are now several leads to follow up on. I suspect part of my feeling was the fact that I am used to more players where the likelihood of someone finding an omen interesting is obviously larger.


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